DENVER – The Colorado National Guard will perform a helicopter flyover across much of the state Monday to honor our fallen service members as well as the health care and frontline workers.
One flyover will start at Buckley Air Force Base at 8:30 a.m. and will head across the metro area, then to Colorado Springs and back to Buckley.
The second will start at 9 a.m. at the High-Altitude Army National Guard Aviation Training Site in Gypsum and fly across the Western Slope down to Silverton and back.
The National Guard said the flyovers are part of training for pilots and are not costing taxpayers any extra money. The pilots will fly over several of Colorado's veterans cemeteries and memorials as well.
The 2nd General Support Aviation Battalion, 135th Regiment, Colorado Army National Guard, Buckley AFB, and the HAATS unit will all participate in the flyover.
The helicopters flying out of Buckley AFB will be a CH-47 Chinook, two UH-60 Black Hawks and one LUH-72 Lakota. Two UH-60 Black Hawks will launch out of HAATS for the Western Slope flyover.
“We are really excited that U.S. Army leadership has allowed us to focus some of our training hours to thank our veterans and the healthcare workers and first responders caring for them during these difficult times,” State Army Aviation Officer U.S. Army Col. William Gentle said. “This Memorial Day is unique but no less important than any other in our nation’s history. We must never forget those who have sacrificed so much to keep this great nation free.”
The routes for the Memorial Day flyovers will be as follows (times could vary by about 15 minutes, the National Guard said):
Route 1 (Denver metro area)
08:30 am - Buckley AFB
08:45 am - Centennial Airport, Centennial
10:00 am - J.S Parker Cemetery, Parker
10:10 am - Highlands Ranch
10:15am - Ft Logan National Cemetery, Englewood
10:20am - Arvada
10:15am - Thornton
10:35am - Denver
10:45am - Centennial Airport
Route 2 (Colorado Springs area)
10:55am - Centennial Airport
11:30am - Colorado Springs
12:00pm - Buckley AFB
Route 3 (Western Slope)
09:00am – HAATS
09:25am – Rifle
09:50am – Grand Junction
10:15am – Montrose/ Fuel
11:30am – Depart Montrose
12:00pm – Silverton
12:25pm – Gunnison
01:00pm – HAATS
The National Guard said Coloradans should continue to maintain proper social distance while watching the flyovers.
