On Saturday more than 90 military veterans from Northwest Arkansas will be traveling to Washington D.C. for the first Honor Flight in the state.
The one day trip is a way to show veterans appreciation for all they've done and let them experience a part of history some of them have never seen.
The Honor Flight program is a non-profit organization that began four years ago in Ohio, and has now grown to more than 70 hubs in 34 different states.
In Northwest Arkansas, Tyson Foods and the Walmart Foundation have each donated $25,000, which will pay for the majority of the trip.
The charted flight takes off from XNA at 8 a.m. and returns at 9 p.m. While in Washington D.C. the veterans will be visiting the World War II Memorial among others. The majority of the veterans are from World War II, like 83-year-old Lawrence Orrday of Springdale.
"We fought World War II to fight it over there, not wait until it came over here to fight," said Orrday, who graduated high school a few months early in order to join the Navy. He served from 1944 to 1946.
The last time Orrday was in Washington D.C. was 1957, so he's never seen the World War II Memorial. "You could put all the rest in the center of this thing and lose them, that's how big it is," said Orrday.
He hopes to get reacquainted with some old friends and meet some new ones, but it's those who can't be there that he'll be thinking about the most. "I try to in vision the front lines as I call them, the ones that didn't come back," said Orrday.
However, the real question is, who's more excited, Orrday or his great grandchildren?
I think it's a blessing for him since he fought in World War II," said great grandson, Wyatt Cypert. His sister Lillie said she only has three requests from her great granddad, "lots of pictures, some stories and a good time," said Lillie Baker.
The one day trip is a way to show veterans appreciation for all they've done and let them experience a part of history some of them have never seen.
The Honor Flight program is a non-profit organization that began four years ago in Ohio, and has now grown to more than 70 hubs in 34 different states.
In Northwest Arkansas, Tyson Foods and the Walmart Foundation have each donated $25,000, which will pay for the majority of the trip.
The charted flight takes off from XNA at 8 a.m. and returns at 9 p.m. While in Washington D.C. the veterans will be visiting the World War II Memorial among others. The majority of the veterans are from World War II, like 83-year-old Lawrence Orrday of Springdale.
"We fought World War II to fight it over there, not wait until it came over here to fight," said Orrday, who graduated high school a few months early in order to join the Navy. He served from 1944 to 1946.
The last time Orrday was in Washington D.C. was 1957, so he's never seen the World War II Memorial. "You could put all the rest in the center of this thing and lose them, that's how big it is," said Orrday.
He hopes to get reacquainted with some old friends and meet some new ones, but it's those who can't be there that he'll be thinking about the most. "I try to in vision the front lines as I call them, the ones that didn't come back," said Orrday.
However, the real question is, who's more excited, Orrday or his great grandchildren?
I think it's a blessing for him since he fought in World War II," said great grandson, Wyatt Cypert. His sister Lillie said she only has three requests from her great granddad, "lots of pictures, some stories and a good time," said Lillie Baker.
