Big welcome home planned for Honor Flight vets

Arlington Heights will welcome home 45 veterans of World War II, Korea and Vietnam when they return from the 2015 Honor Flight of Northern and Western Illinois on Saturday.

The trip will take the veterans to Washington, D.C., to visit nearly a dozen memorials, then culminates in a huge party when they get back to the Chicago area on Saturday, Aug. 22.

The event previously ended with a welcome home party in Crystal Lake, but with so many attendees this year, organizer Greg Padovani sought a larger site for Saturday's return celebration. He found it when Christian Liberty Academy in Arlington Heights stepped up.

“Each year it has gotten bigger and bigger,” said Padovani, chairman of the Arlington Heights veterans memorial committee and a board member with Honor Flight.

While Honor Flight Chicago crams the trip into a whirlwind of just under 24 hours, the Northern and Western Illinois chapter spreads the trip over three days to allow for easier travel for the often older veterans, Padovani said. Veterans ranging from their 60s to age 96 will be on the trip, which also includes four female veterans and many from the Northwest suburbs.

After their return flight arrives in Milwaukee, the veterans will be escorted by local emergency vehicles and more than 50 Warrior's Watch Riders to Arlington Heights.

Doors open at Christian Liberty Academy, 502 W. Euclid Ave., at 12:30 p.m. Saturday. Light appetizers will be available starting at 1 p.m., courtesy of Minute Meals of Wisconsin. A 17-piece big band will be playing everything from Glenn Miller to the Blues Brothers, and the Honor Flight veterans are expected to arrive about 2 p.m.

“It's open to the public. We want everybody to come and say thank you to these veterans for their service to our nation,” Padovani said. “I want them to experience the cheering, smiles, and 'Thank Yous' that the vast majority of them did not experience when they came home from the war.”

Padovani is asking that people car pool to the event, as the parking near Christian Liberty Academy will fill up quickly. He estimates about 1,500 people will attend. People are also asked to bring a U.S. flag and stand along Walnut Avenue to welcome the buses to Arlington Heights.

This will be Padovani's fourth year on the trip. He said his favorite part each time is watching the veterans enjoy spending time with one another as they experience the nation's capitol.

“The fun these guys are having — it's like they are young soldiers again, joking and having a good time,” he said.