(Radio Iowa) – Veterans from across Iowa are in Washington D-C today (Wednesday) as part of the 50th Eastern Iowa Honor Flight. The trip honors 99-year-old World War Two Veteran Mike Wilson. Wilson tells K-C-R-G T-V that he and his late wife Esther were happy to donate to events like the Eastern Iowa Honor Flight.   “She also believed in sharing, and we always got a lot of gratitude out of the people that we shared with,” Wilson said.

Together, they donated five to six million dollars to organizations across Cedar Rapids. Wilson was drafted into the navy in August 1944. He says he wants all veterans to get the attention they deserve, especially those who served in Vietnam who didn’t get a warm welcome home. “The public kind of turned on it and made it really tough for the veterans,” Wilson said. “They didn’t have a real good welcoming cap coming home, and yet what they did was just as honorable as what anybody did in World War Two.”

Photo from https://eihonorflight.org/

Eighty-eight veterans are on the Honor Flight. Friends and family will greet them as they return to the Eastern Iowa airport around 7 p-m. for the welcoming party.

The next Honor Flight is May 28th, the day after Memorial Day. The waiting list for the Honor Flight is roughly two and a half years, with around 700 veterans currently signed up. Veterans can learn more or apply by clicking here to visit the Eastern Iowa Honor Flight’s website. The trip is free for Veterans, but guardians will have to pay to tag along.