Honor Flight returns

WWII veterans walk down the ramp from the security gate to a cheering crowd after returning from an Honor Flight to Washington D.C.

Rose Russell, left, waits to greet her husband of 62 years, Dick Russell, who was returning from an Honor Flight to Washington D.C. at Spokane International Airport. Dick Russell was in the Army Air Corps and Air Force.

Pearl Harbor survivor Sid Kennedy is welcomed home by an enthusiastic crowd at Spokane International Airport Sunday returning from a trip to Washington, D.C., with the non-profit group Honor Flight.

Carol Mitz, center, is welcomed home from a trip to Washington, D.C., with the non-profit group Honor Flight. Mitz served in the U.S. in WWII as a member of the Navy WAVES and was the first woman to take an Inland Northwest Honor Flight trip. She and her three brothers, Kent, Robert and Dennis, all served during WWII. “They’re all gone now,” she said.

Kirsten Wood hugs her great-grandfather Chet Riedinger at Spokane International Airport Sunday after Riedinger was welcomed home with other veterans from a trip to Washington, D.C., with the non-profit group Honor Flight, which raises money to take veterans to visit memorials in the nation’s capital.

Nena Graupner, right, folds her dad, Harold Rooks, into a hug at Spokane International Airport Sunday. A brass band and more than a hundred friends and family gave the veterans a rousing welcome. Rooks served with the Army in North Africa and Europe in WWII.