Veterans returning from Honor Flight receive hero's welcome at Wichita airport

There was a hero's welcome for Kansas veterans Friday returning from an Honor Flight.

The group left for Washington, D.C. Wednesday to tour war memorials and monuments in the nation's capital. The trip is free for veterans and their guardians, serving as a way to say "thank you" for their service. This week's flight is the first of three scheduled over the next few weeks.

Aboard this flight were country-serving family connections including mother-daughter and father-son pairings.

A World-War-II veteran of the U.S. Navy took the trip with her Vietnam-War Navy veteran daughter as her guardian. A World-War II U.S. Army veteran was on the flight with his son as his guardian, a fellow Army veteran who also served in Vietnam.

Among those greeting the returning veterans at Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport Friday were students from Chester Lewis Academy who give homemade pens to the Honor Flight participants.

In February, students in the school's Woodturning Club created the pens with material purchased through a grant from the Wichita Community Foundation.