SPOKANE, Wash. - The first Inland Northwest Honor Flight of 2016 took off on Monday as hundreds of veterans gather at the Spokane International Airport.
The veterans will take off for Washington D. C. around 8:00 a.m. Monday and return on Tuesday evening around 6:50 p.m.
There are 21 World War II veterans, 55 Korean War veterans, and 21 Vietnam veterans that will be on the flight.
For the some of the veterans, it is a chance to relive how they found their loved one.
"We met and you know, how the stars go,” Belva Periman said.
Belva met her husband George in Germany in the 1950’s when they were both serving the Air Force.
"He thought he was my boss," she said.
They eventually got married and sixty years later the two boarded a plane on Monday to go to Washington D.C. to remember their loved ones that did not make it through the wars.
"I had a lot of high school friends lost during the Korean War," George Periman said.
Belva Periman wants to see the women’s war memorial. She was once stationed in Mississippi with 700 men.
"They don't think I'm a vet,” she said. “They think I'm here to push him around."
Both the Periman’s are happy to go to honor all of the veterans at the memorials.
“I had a brother in Vietnam,” Larry Bayman said “They had it rough so they deserve more thanks but it's an honor to go.”
For the first time, Vietnam Veterans on the waiting list could go. They will be surrounded by World War Two and Korean War veterans.
After a 36-hour trip, most will come back to family and friends waiting to hear what memories the memorials bring back.
But for the Periman's, it will be another shared adventure that began a lifetime go.
If interested in making a donation to the INW Honor Flight, please visit their website.
