VIDEO: Veterans depart for 19th Heroes Flight to Washington, D.C.

EAST TEXAS (KLTV) - UPDATE: Veterans on the Brookshire Grocery Company’s 19th Heroes Flight are on the ground in Washington, D.C.

They arrived to applause, cheers and salutes thanking them for their service.

The veterans will visit the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial and the Lincoln Monument on Thursday.

Twenty-nine veterans departed Thursday morning for the 19th Heroes Flight.

The all-expenses-paid trip is provided by Brookshire’s and Super 1 Foods as a way to honors veterans. Veterans will tour of historical monuments in Washington, D.C.

Thursday morning, the group gathered at Tyler Pounds Regional Airport for a send off at 8 a.m.

This trip marks the first to include veterans who served during the Vietnam War and the War on Terror.

“In addition to visiting the WWII Memorial, the group will tour the U.S. Capitol with Congressman Louie Gohmert (R-Texas). Other points of interest will include Arlington National Cemetery, the Air and Space Museum and memorials honoring the U.S. Marines, Navy, Air Force, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Martin Luther King Jr., and Vietnam and Korean War veterans,” Brookshire Grocery Co. said in a statement.

The company has taken more than 500 veterans from Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas on the trip since establishing the program in 2010.

“Our veterans are true heroes, and we consider it a great privilege to honor them through our Heroes Flights,” said Brad Brookshire, Chairman and CEO for Brookshire Grocery Co. “We are especially excited that, for the first time ever, we will have veterans representing four conflicts sharing this experience together.”

The group will return on Oct. 19.

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