ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – They fought in World War II, Korea and Vietnam.

On Tuesday, 68 veterans from the Bay area are being celebrated with Honor Flights to Washington D.C.

What You Need To Know

  • Honor Flight from St. Pete celebrating the service of 68 Bay area veterans

  • Veterans from WWII, Korean War and Vietnam War

  • Honor Flight

And despite their sacrifices for the country, many of them have never seen the national monuments honoring their service and sacrifice.

Among them Tuesday is 98-year-old Orlo McKean, one of two WWII veterans in the group. McKean was in charge of changing spark plugs on the Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the first of two atomic bombs on Japan, which ended the war.

When asked if he planned to look for any friends’ names on memorials in Washington, he gave a profound answer: “We didn’t have time to make friends,” he said. “They landed the airplane and coming back those guys wanted to get back to the states.  

So we lost a lot of airplanes because they flew too fast going back to the states. When you run out of gas in an airplane you got problems.”

The veterans flying to D.C. on Tuesday will be returning around 8 p.m.  

This Honor Flight is the 41st hosted by the St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport.