Upstate invited to fill GSP for veterans’ Honor Flight homecoming
September 13, 2026
Ninety South Carolina veterans will fly from Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport to Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Sept. 16, for a special Honor Flight, and Upstate Warrior Solution is asking the community to be waiting when they get back.
The veterans will spend the day visiting the national memorials built in recognition of their service and sacrifice. Their return that evening is where the Upstate comes in.
Organizers are asking residents to gather at GSP at 7:30 p.m. to give the group a homecoming worth remembering. Veterans, families, students, business owners, civic clubs, churches, first responders and neighbors from across the region are all invited, including residents of Laurens County and the Golden Strip. Attendees are encouraged to bring American flags.
The welcome carries particular weight for the Vietnam veterans making the trip. Many of them came home more than 50 years ago to silence or worse, without the gratitude their service had earned.
“For a lot of these men and women, this is the welcome home they never got,” said Nicole Anderson, a Marine Corps veteran and warrior advocate with Upstate Warrior Solution. “We cannot go back and change what happened when they landed the first time. What we can do is show up on Sept. 16 and get it right.”
Upstate Warrior Solution, based in Greenville, connects veterans, first responders and their families to resources across the Upstate. The organization has helped coordinate community turnout for Honor Flight returns before, and staff members said the response tends to surprise the veterans stepping off the plane.
“They walk through those doors expecting a quiet airport, and instead there are hundreds of people clapping and waving flags,” said Rick Palmer, who retired from the Navy and now serves as senior development officer for Upstate Warrior Solution. “It takes about 10 seconds for the whole thing to become emotional. You can see it hit them.”
Palmer said no ticket or registration is required. Families are welcome to bring children, and organizers noted that student groups, scout troops and church congregations have all turned out for past homecomings.
Those planning to attend should allow extra time for parking and for reaching the arrivals area before the flight lands.
More information about Upstate Warrior Solution and its programs is available at upstatewarriorsolution.org.
