By Angela Satterlee

One of the most emotional traditions at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh took place Friday July 24, as 100 Vietnam War veterans traveled from Wittman Regional Airport to Washington, D.C., and back, on the annual Yellow Ribbon Honor Flight.

The veterans visited the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and other national monuments dedicated to those who served before returning to Oshkosh, where thousands gathered in Boeing Plaza to welcome them home with signs, cheers, applause, American flags, and a water canon salute.

Now in its 12th year at AirVenture, the Honor Flight is organized by Missions of Honor (formally known as Old Glory Honor Flight). The nonprofit has coordinated Honor Flights since 2009, giving veterans the opportunity to visit the memorials built in their honor at no cost. American Airlines once again donated the aircraft, flown by an all-volunteer crew of pilots and flight attendants.

For many Vietnam veterans, the trip is more than a visit to Washington; it’s about the homecoming they never received.

U.S. Army Vietnam War veteran Rick Royston knows that feeling firsthand.

“It’s very emotional,” Rick said. “It brings back some good and bad memories.”

Although he has already experienced an Honor Flight himself, Rick returned to welcome home the next group of veterans.

“I enjoy welcoming them home,” he said. “They’re brothers and sisters,” he said.

For one woman waiting for her husband to return, the annual Honor Flight means finally seeing Vietnam veterans receive the appreciation they long deserved.

“It makes me proud,” she said. “And it makes me feel like finally the American public is honoring the Vietnam veterans.”

She said one of her husband’s favorite parts of the trip is witnessing the changing of the guard at Arlington National Cemetery.

The Honor Flight is about more than visiting monuments. It is about recognizing the sacrifices of those who served and reminding them that their service mattered.

“It shows that the country is honoring him as a serviceman … and that our country does respect the military, so [he] feels like what he did was worth it,” she said.

For the veterans stepping off the airplane Friday evening, the crowd waiting in Boeing Plaza offered something many never received decades ago, a heartfelt welcome home.