Collier-Lee Honor Flight brings Florida veterans home after Arlington trip

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People at RSW await the return of Southwest Florida veterans after an Honor Flight to Washington, D.C. Credit: WINK News

On Saturday night, veterans returned home to Southwest Florida after a trip to Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C., courtesy of Collier-Lee Honor Flight. 

Family, friends and community members waited at Southwest Florida International Airport to meet the veterans for a warm welcome after another flight honoring them and their military service.

Mike Sullivan was especially excited about this Honor Flight because it had many fellow Vietnam veterans aboard.

“I’ve been attending these Honor Flights since the beginning of time when there were very few people here in the terminal to honor these brave men and women who fought for our country,” Sullivan said.  

George Kranz is a veteran who attended the Honor Flight last year. 

“It’s an experience I will never, ever forget,” Kranz said. 

“It’s always great… I can see them come back with a lot of joy in that they were able to see and honor their past, soldiers that have gone before them and during the war,” said another of the veterans on the flight.

Kranz said that a 90-year-old member of his assembly from the Knights of Columbus came back on Saturday night’s flight. He is thankful his friend got to have the experience of a lifetime. 

“When I came out of the service, here, you’re going to see nothing but love,” Kranz said.  

And this isn’t only for the veterans, but their families as well. Judith Regan and her late husband are both veterans. He fought in the Vietnam War.

“He passed in 2019, from the effects of Agent Orange… I say the word ‘Agent Orange,’ and I get upset because of the loss,” Regan said. “I knew he used to go on all the Honor Flights. We relocated from up north, and now we’re here. So, I feel like he’s here. So, I came tonight.” 

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