For the Gazette

WAUSAU – The Never Forgotten Honor Flight organization will fly four Korea- and 99 Vietnam-era veterans from central and northern Wisconsin to Washington, D.C. to view the memorials that honor their service on Monday, April 17.

Area veterans include John Pacocha, Amherst Junction;  Kenneth Cover, Plover; Darrell Firkus, Sr., Plover; John Herek, Plover; Vernon Beaudoin, Stevens Point; Michael Moore, Stevens Point; Donald Mugridge, Stevens Point; and Kurt Viertel, Stevens Point, all from the Vietnam era.

It’s the organization’s 43rd flight since April 2010.

Sixty-eight guardians will accompany the vets on the one-day round trip that departs Central Wisconsin Airport at 6:30 a.m. and is scheduled to return at approximately 10 p.m.

The public is invited to the Central Wisconsin Airport to welcome the veterans home Monday night, and Honor Flight officials recommend arriving no later than 8:30 p.m.

Free parking for those welcoming these veterans home will be provided.

Never Forgotten Honor Flight (NFHF) veteran alumni are encouraged to wear their NFHF-issued clothing for the welcome home ceremony.

After Monday’s trip, the Never Forgotten Honor Flight will have flown 4,081 veterans to Washington, D.C.

All veterans that served prior to May 7, 1975, are encouraged to apply.

For more information, visit www.neverforgottenhonorflight.com or call (715) 573-8519.