LONDONDERRY — This Father's Day, Roland Smith will head to Manchester-Boston Regional Airport with 24 of his brothers and sisters for a very special trip. It doesn't matter that he will be meeting some of them for the first time that morning — in his mind, they share a bond that makes them as close as family.

“They all served our country,” said Smith, 88, of Salem. “We'll all have that.”

On Sunday, 25 World War II veterans from New England, including Smith (a Navy man), will fly to Washington, D.C. for a day-trip to visit the war memorials, thanks to the Honor Flight New England program.

The non-profit, part of the national organization Honor Flight Network, was created solely to honor America's veterans for their sacrifices. Top priority is given to World War II survivors, along with veterans who may be terminally ill.

Smith's daughter, Janis Corcoran of Londonderry, will accompany her father on the trip as his guardian.

“I'm excited for him, and I'm excited that I get to spend another Father's Day with him,” said Corcoran. “Knowing what I know about the surprises of the day, I think he is going to be speechless by the end of it. I'm really looking forward to that.”

The group will land at Baltimore-Washington International (BWI) Airport, and from there head to Washington to visit the World War II Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, the Korean War Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial Wall, Arlington National Cemetery and the Tomb of the Unknowns, the Marine Memorial and the Air Force Memorial. They will return to BWI for the flight home late Sunday night to Manchester.

“I'm going to be tired,” said Smith, who has never visited the memorials. “I usually don't stay up more than three hours.”

Corcoran, who has done some clerical work for Honor Flight New England founder Joe Byron at his office in Hooksett, said many of the veterans making these trips have never talked about the war, except to mention that he crossed the international dateline on his birthday, and “celebrated it twice.”

“It's only been this year that I've been able to ask my dad more questions about his military service and his days serving during the war,” said Corcoran. “I don't know if he just wasn't ready to talk about it before, but he really never did ... I think come Sunday, you will see the 25 on that trip really bonding.”

She added: “He is so excited about this trip. It is only a day-long trip, but he has been preparing and asking questions for weeks.”

Smith served in the Navy on the USS Ingersoll, a destroyer that saw action in the Pacific. He said the vessel was awarded nine battle stars in the Pacific and two in the Philippines and is credited with shooting down numerous planes.

“I think we sunk a sub too, but we only saw an oil slick from it,” said Smith. “I can't be sure.”

World War II and terminally ill veterans don't pay a cent to participate in an Honor Flight (guardians pay their own way). Donations to Honor Flight New England can be made by credit card at www.Honorflightnewengland.com. Interested parties can also mail donations to:

Honor Flight New England
PO Box 16287
Hooksett, NH 03106

Applications for future flights are also available at the website.

pfeely@unionleader.com