Sons of the American Revolution - Kentucky Society, Simon Kenton Chapter

September Flight Approaching

One week until the first fall flight for Honor Flight Tri-State! Wednesday, September 10 is our first fall flight for 2025, so get it on your calendar now. The flight will be returning to CVG at approximately 8:30 PM that evening, so gather your friends and family, freshen up your patriotic gear, and meet with us on the upper Departures level at CVG to give our veterans the Welcome Home Celebration they deserve. If you are a planning to bring a large group, such as a civic or patriotic organization, please let us know so that we can be aware during our setup. We have guidelines from our hosts at CVG that we must honor. We look forward to seeing friends, both old and new, next Wednesday, September 10, at CVG!

Deanna Beineke, Ambassador, Honor Flight Tri-State

Looks like great weather for the second Honor Flight tomorrow leaving from CVG at nearly dawn. That means there will be a tired, possibly sunburned veterans headed back scheduled to arrive at CVG around 8:30 PM. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to come on out and meet several hundred other family members and regulars to applaud our heroes when they come out of the tunnel and lift their spirits as they have the parade they didn't have when they came home the first time. Wear your Honor Flight Tri-State gear or your Red, White, and Blue so you can reach in and shake the hand of a veteran who sacrificed some of his lifetime to protect you and yours. Get your fill now; we will see you again in September for the next flight.

Upcoming fundraisers and socials: Warbirds USO Dance at Moonlight at Coney this Friday -- $20/person in advance, $25 at the door. See the flyer on our FB page.

Pancake breakfast at Waypoint Aviation down the road from Lunken on Saturday, June 6 to remember D-Day and honor veterans. $10 AYCE, veterans free, see the flyer on HFTS FB page.

See you tomorrow evening!

Deanna Beineke, Ambassador, Honor Flight Tri-State

Thank you to all who made yesterday evening such a wonderful experience for our veteran heroes. The Color Guard, the Emerald Society Pipes and Drums, the HFTS Sales Crew, the Ambassadors, and especially the family members and friends, and the school groups -- you all deserve your own round of applause for taking us over the top once again. We also want to thank the crew at CVG who continue to provide Honor Flight Tri-State with their absolutely amazing support during each flight day, both morning and evening. My husband and I have been doing these for 14 years now, and the Best Welcome Home Ever never disappoints.

See you on May 23!

Deanna Beineke, Ambassador

Tomorrow, April 18, is the day Honor Flight Tri-State has been looking forward to since last October. Tomorrow we take our first group of veterans on their trip of a lifetime to see their memorials in Washington, D.C. No matter the temperature, they can be assured a warm welcome when they land at Reagan National, and it is our opportunity to see that our heroes receive a very warm Welcome Home tomorrow evening. The flight is due to arrive back in Cincinnati at approximately 8:30 PM, barring weather or mechanical issues, which means they should be heading up the ramp into the Arrivals area at CVG by shortly before 9. Word has gotten out that we have the Best Welcome Home Ever, and we want to hold onto that title! Wear your patriotic gear, be prepared to cheer and applaud, maybe even sing a song or two, and provide these men and women with the welcome they deserve. We'll see you tomorrow evening at CVG!

Deanna Beineke, Ambassador, Honor Flight Tri-State

Next Tuesday, April 18, 2023, will be the inaugural flight for this Honor Flight Tri-State season! Time to put on your Red, White, and Blue gear and meet the veterans as they return from the trip of a lifetime. Take this opportunity to come out to CVG, head down to the Arrivals area, and prepare to applaud, cheer, and maybe even shake the hand of a veteran who served during some of the worst conflicts of the 20th Century. The flight is due to arrive at approximately 8:30, so come on over a little early and check out the new merchandise for 2023 (and some of your favorites from previous years, as well). I know we will have some young patriots there to welcome these servicemen and women, which is always one of the highlights of the flying season. Help us make this The. Best. Welcome. Home. Celebration. Ever!

Deanna Beineke, Ambassador, Honor Flight Tri-State

Today my arms reach out to give each and every one of you a warm hug in appreciation of your support for our veterans and to say thank you for proving once more that Honor Flight Tri-State creates The. Best. Welcome. Home. Ever! My husband and I estimated the crowd last evening at roughly 650-700! And that included the supporters on the upper level who had a bird's eye view as the pipe and drum band led the parade through the crowd. Well done!

A couple of incidents occurred yesterday that reminded me why we have stayed with this organization for more than 10 years. When I retired from teaching over 20 years ago, I began interviewing veterans for the Library of Congress Veterans History Project. My 20+ interviews ranged from WWII vets to Vietnam vets and some interviews were more difficult than others, both for me and for the interviewee. Yesterday morning, a Vietnam vet interviewed almost 20 years ago was on the flight with his son as his Guardian. We recognized each other and spoke briefly. Last evening when they returned, we connected once again. With tears in his eyes and mine, this vet told me that the interview all those years ago led to some healing, but that this trip, spending the day with his son to share the experience was the best day of his life. Later, as everyone was heading home, a woman stopped to tell me that her father had gone on a flight with us way back when all the veterans were WWII vets and that she still has his T-shirt that had WWII Veterans printed under the HFTS logo. She was there last evening because her husband, a Vietnam vet, was on this flight and that she was so grateful that both her father and husband were able to have the trip of a lifetime. These stories, and each of us who volunteer have such stories, are why we continue to give our time and support to Honor Flight Tri-State.

See you in September.

Deanna Beineke, Ambassador, Honor Flight Tri-State

Well, it is summer this week, so enjoy the warmth as we get ready for HFTS 2022 Flight number Two for this season next Tuesday, May 24. This is another chance to show your appreciation for those veterans who have sacrificed so much in our defense. Come to CVG dressed in your Honor Flight gear or your favorite patriotic gear and be ready to applaud and cheer as we welcome another flight home.

A couple of questions have come up since the last flight in April, so I will address them now to answer before the September and October flights. Mail Call envelopes for veterans are prepared during our "down time" in the winter for the spring flights and the summer for the fall flights. We love receiving the cards and letters -- and the veterans love them as well -- but any cards that arrive within just a few weeks before a scheduled flight will go into the next batch to be filled. Contact an Ambassador or get in touch with HQ about collecting messages for veterans. Another issue to address is organizations bringing large groups to the Welcome Celebration. We are guests of CVG and need to be careful not to take advantage of their generosity in filling the Arrivals area during one of the busiest travel times of the day. If your organization is planning to bring more than 10 members, please let us know so that I can clear it with my CVG contacts. We have to plan how best to utilize our space without interfering with normal airport operation. Thanks in advance for your cooperation. We want to continue to be gracious guests and appreciate our gracious hosts.

The May flight is scheduled to arrive around 9 PM next Tuesday. More details will come in next week's reminder message. See you next Tuesday!

Deanna Beineke, Ambassador, Honor Flight Tri-State

Wow! I want to thank everyone who took part in celebrating our veterans in one of the Best Welcome Home Celebrations Ever! After a nearly two-year-hiatus, the appreciation for our veterans obviously still runs very deep in the greater Cincinnati community. The airport was full, even with folks lining the rails on the upper levels. Our SAR Color Guard and supplemental members of the military, patriotic and scout organizations proudly lined the path as our veterans came out for their parade, led by the always amazing Emerald Society Pipes and Drums. Our faithful Lakota East students were back with us -- YAY -- and we welcomed a group of students from Beechwood as well. Our wonderful Parrothead friends defined the turning point for the parade, and we saw a number of familiar faces. CVG gave us everything we needed and we are so grateful to have them as our friends and allies in hosting this event for each flight. Thanks so much. I don't know if it was the time between flights or the dismisssal of the masks, but last night's welcome seemed a bit more emotional than some others. My standard handshake greeting of "Welcome Home" resulted in some really tight grips and some very heart-felt "Thank You" responses. I wouldn't miss this for the world.

And we're going to do it all again on May 24th. Mark your calendar. We'll see you then.

Deanna Beineke, Ambassador, Honor Flight Tri-State

Tomorrow Night

It may feel more like winter than spring, but Honor Flight Tri-State is ready to fly tomorrow morning, Tuesday, April 19! That means we are ready for our first Welcome Home celebration tomorrow evening at the Arrivals area at CVG. Feel free to join us to bring a grand welcome to those veterans who served to defend and protect us. The flight is due in around 9 PM, more or less (you can check Flight Aware to follow the flight time), and then we will wait for them to gather and parade out the ramp to applause and cheers. REMINDER: We are subject to the CVG rules and regulations -- masks are still the order of the day, so make sure you have your mask with you. I may look like I make the rules, but not in this case. Wear Your Mask Inside the Airport. We do not want to ask you to leave. This is a joyous occasion, so smile with your eyes. Wear your red, white and blue gear, and if you are looking for HFTS Gear, we have a table full of items. Each purchase helps send another veteran on a flight.

We look forward to warming up the airport with hugs and handshakes tomorrow evening. See you then!

Deanna Beineke, Ambassador, Honor Flight Tri-State

One week until the inaugural flight for the 2022 Honor Flight Tri-State season! On Tuesday, April 19, feel free to come to the lower Arrivals area at CVG to welcome home our veteran heroes from their trip of a lifetime. Arrival time is usually estimated at about 9 PM, with another half hour until they are coming up the ramp, so plan your trip along that timeline. We don't control weather or mechanicals, but we have lots of HFTS gear at the Sales table, and there are always plenty of nice folks, new friends, and familiar faces. We don't know just what the masking requirements are for next Tuesday, so bring one along, just in case. Remember, we are guests at CVG and we must follow their rules while on their property. Wear your red, white and blue and be prepared to smile, cheer, shake a hand or two and make this Welcome Home the best part of a veteran's day. FYI, there is an App available for your mobile device called FlightAware that allows you to track the flight once it is in the air. We will post the flight number once we know what it is. More details as they become available. Hope to see you next Tuesday!

Deanna Beineke, Ambassador, HFTS

It's the first day of Spring, 2022, and it has been a beautiful day! March Madness is halfway through, but the big news is that Honor Flight Tri-State has the first two flights of the 2022 season scheduled and ready to go! Mark your calendars for April 19 and May 24. We will be sending more than 85 veterans with their Guardians and our HFTS staff and medics from CVG early each morning and welcoming them home in the evenings. Covid restrictions are still in place at the moment, but that didn't stop us from having celebrations in 2021, and I don't expect it will stop us in 2022. I will keep you posted as well as I can about any restrictions on masking, etc. It's time to get out your gear and make sure it's in tip-top shape when we welcome those veterans home on April 19.

Look for a message with more details one week before the flight and another the day of the flight. We will do our best to keep everyone informed. We look forward to seeing faithful friends and making new ones as we begin another season honoring those who have served and sacrificed for us.

Deanna Beineke, Ambassador, Honor Flight Tri-State