Sixty New Hampshire veterans left Manchester on Honor Flight New England's 70th trip

Sixty veterans gathered early Sunday at Manchester-Boston Regional Airport for Honor Flight New England's 70th flight, WMUR reported. The trip to Washington was free for the Korean War and Vietnam War veterans on board, and it carried the chapter's total past 2,600 people flown.

Before departure, dozens of supporters filled the terminal. The station described handshakes, hugs, salutes, and thanks, with red, white, and blue around the crowd. Jacqueline Fortier said she comes because her father served in the Korean War, and she wants these veterans to know that people still care about what they went through. Raquel Lorenzetti, an Army Reserve soldier at her second send-off, told the station she was glad to stand with service members. WMUR said she returns for veterans who never received a real welcome home.

The chapter is part of the Honor Flight Network, which has taken hundreds of thousands of veterans to the memorials in Washington. A motorcycle fundraiser, We Ride So They Fly, was set for June 27 out of Manchester Harley-Davidson, with the proceeds going to the flights. Sunday's report was the send-off. It did not describe the landing back in New Hampshire.