VIDEO, PHOTOS: WWII Veterans Welcomed Home after Honor Flight

More than 100 veterans from throughout Wisconsin were greeted at General Mitchell International Airport late Saturday night by hundreds of people welcoming them home and thanking them for their service.

Some of the members of the Greatest Generation had tears in their eyes as they walked and wheeled through the airport.

The trip was especially long as their flight had been delayed for hours in Washington, D.C. The group of World War II veterans – men and women – spent the day in Washington, D.C., while on a Stars and Stripes Honor Flight. The trip is designed to give the veterans a chance to see the World War II monument through a special one-day excursion. It all came to an end with the special late-night homecoming parade in the airport.

Veterans from several Milwaukee-area Patch.com communities were on the flight. The following veterans were confirmed for the trip as of Wednesday:

Shorewood

• Robert W. Kelly

Brookfield

• Murray L. Kinnich
• Sam G. Sotirin
• Frederick J. Theilacker
• Dorothy L. Krebs-Jones
• Howard H. Elder Jr.
• Thomas J. Duffey

Greendale

• Herbert P. Mezydlo
• Andrew J. Garraghan Jr.

Greenfield

• Henry J. Vey
• Robert J. Donovan
• Anthony D. Maglio
• Frederick C. Weiss
• Ruphin Anthony Bronk
• Mary Guiffre
• Richard Eugene Spangler

Menomonee Falls

• John G. Anstett
• Ralph J. Kujawa

Muskego

• Robert T. Woythal

Oak Creek

• Arthur C. Nunemaker Jr.

Waukesha

• Howard H. Sanders

Wauwatosa

• Robert F. Maas
• Larry A. Jonas
• Arthur W. Gaulke

Stars and Stripes Honor Flight is a branch of the National Honor Flight Network that was started in Wisconsin by Port Washington resident and Alderman Joe Dean. The organization about the World War II veterans in August at Miller Park.

The next honor flight is scheduled for June 2.