SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4 News) – Twenty-three female veterans boarded a plane bound for Washington D.C. Thursday morning. They are the very first all-female Honor Flight from Utah.
On every Honor Flight, the veterans are accompanied by a guardian. In this case 22 of the 23 guardians are female veterans or current service members themselves. The 23rd guardian is a Gold Star Spouse.
The servicewomen started the morning with a ceremony and breakfast at the Utah National Guard Readiness Center then headed to the airport, where the Utah Pipe Band escorted them to their plane.
Captain Bobbye Moore was a nurse at Langley Air Force Base during Vietnam.
She explained her excitement for the trip, “Someone said this morning, it’s a victory lap, and yes it is. To get to meet these women who served their country and are now serving us it is absolutely a victory lap.” She said that her service was the biggest privilege of her lifetime, adding that it was years before she felt comfortable enough to speak openly about her service. “I did not have any positive reinforcement or any recognition when I came home. None.”
The purpose of the Honor Flight is to give that much deserved and long awaited recognition and gratitude. The women will tour Washington D.C. and visit the National Archives, each of the war and service branch memorials, and the women’s memorial.
The servicewomen will be coming home Saturday evening. To find out how to participate in welcoming them home or to get someone you know and love on an Honor Flight visit their website.
