08-04-2025
Honor Flight of the App. Highlands taking another group of veterans to nation's capital
TELFORD, Tenn. (WJHL) — Honor Flight of the Appalachian Highlands (HFAH) is preparing to take another group of local veterans to Washington, DC, this time thanks to the help from Telford's Grace Brethren Church.
HFAH Mission 11 will consist of 21 veterans. The group will depart from Jonesborough on Friday and return on Sunday. During those days, the group will be escorted to several national monuments and war memorials in the city.
The Honor Flight missions aim to provide an opportunity for area veterans to visit sites that were created to honor their service to the country. Most Honor Flight veterans have never been to Washington, DC and have never seen the capital's war memorials in person.
WATCH: Honor Flight of the Appalachian Highlands Mission 10
'Many of the veterans we serve through Honor Flight have not had the opportunity to visit the memorials in Washington and most were not welcomed home when they returned from serving their country,' said Michelle Shelton-Stewart, HFAH President, in a release. 'Honor Flight of the Appalachian Highlands is on a mission to change that! An HFAH trip gives the veteran healing, closure, support and friendships with other veterans, and upon returning home, it's the community's opportunity to say thank you and welcome home.'
News Channel 11 joined HFAH on its most recent trip to Washington, DC, Mission 10, and documented the veterans' reactions and experiences along the way. Participants told News Channel 11 during and after the trip that the opportunity was once in a lifetime.
'As a Vietnam veteran who has traveled on a Honor Flight trip, it is more than a trip; it is an opportunity for veterans to receive the honor they deserve for their military service, sacrifice and valor,' said HFAH Board Member Bobby Ray. 'The weekend is about honoring them and showing them that a grateful nation appreciates and honors their service to our country. Many of these veterans were not welcomed home from their service to our country, and on Sunday, our community can change that as HFAH returns at 5 p.m.'
The release from Honor Flight said it invites community members, local organizations and businesses to gather along the group's local departing route to cheer on the coach bus and send veterans off with a smile.
HFAH Mission 11 will leave Grace Brethren Church, located at 3337 Highway 11E, at 8 a.m. Friday. The group's motorcoach will be escorted by police to the Virginia state line down Hwy 11E in Jonesborough, onto Boones Creek Rd., merge onto Interstate 26 and then take Interstate 81 into Virginia.
Community members are asked to safely line up somewhere along that route with signs, flags and banners.
More information on HFAH can be found at
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