Monroe-Woodbury Varsity baseball team and other supporters gathered at Stewart Airport for the annual Hudson Valley Honor Flight on Saturday, Apr. 11th, 2026, at 6 a.m. Veterans rolled in on motorcycles and buses before they were sent off on their flight and trip to Washington, D.C. People lined both sides of the street to cheer for the veterans. Gratitude filled the morning air as everyone reflected on the brave lives of our nation’s veterans.
Two Monroe-Woodbury students were aboard the flight as youth guardians: senior Varsity football and baseball captain Liam Hayes, as well as founder of the school’s Veterans Club Maryella Kearney.
“I felt happy knowing people were willing to cheer on veterans, all the veterans were happy to see people doing it,” said Kearney.
The process of becoming a youth guardian is a hard one.
“I was interested in and filled out an application. My community service and me as a person helped me get in,” explained Kearney. “I wanted to find a way to get people in school involved in community service and appreciate the sacrifice [veterans] made.”
The memories Kearney has will last a lifetime.
“It was really great. We went to the WWII Memorial, Korean and Vietnam Memorial. There were a lot of stories they enjoyed telling and liked seeing young people in the community,” said Kearney who added that she would definitely do it again if she had the chance.
Former Navy postman Bill Doyle spoke about his overseas experience and the Honor Flight program.
“In August of 62, my father brought me down there [Naval Camp] to sign me up. I was only 17. I was reported to a destroyer in Florida on the deck force,” said Doyle.
Doyle was aboard the flight to Washington, D.C., as part of the Hudson Valley Honor Flight. He spoke highly of the experience: ‘What a marvelous group. They put their heart and soul into making veterans happy. For what they do, it is absolutely incredible.”
The Honor Flight’s mission of showing appreciation to veterans is clearly working.
Community support goes beyond just the Honor Flight. Head Varsity baseball coach at Monroe-Woodbury, Mr. Vero, actively supports veteran appreciation. He stresses the importance of events like these to his players and students. The Monroe-Woodbury Varsity and Junior Varsity baseball teams attended the event.
Player Drew Ohren said, “It was cool supporting veterans and appreciating what they did and to support Liam. I was surprised by the amount of schools and people.”
Kearney is working to grow the Veterans Appreciation club and encourages students to join.
“We are very interactive. We have veterans come and speak, we do events inside and outside the community and get people involved,” said Kearney. “Just try to get involved as much as you can, veterans get really happy seeing young people get involved.”
