OSHKOSH, Wis. — Family, friends, and Americans all welcomed home a parade of veterans on Friday.
The return of Old Glory Honor Flight Mission 51 brought emotion to dozens of Vietnam-era veterans.
"Everybody was emotional," participant Terry Ernst said. "This is as good as it gets."
As veterans like Ernst kept coming one by one, the applause and cheers held steady throughout.
"It's amazing to see how many people are here," Cory Wittman said before greeting his father. "It's great to see how many people want to stand behind our veterans and welcome them home."
There was another homecoming of sorts today for the veterans. They went to Washington D.C. and say the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial.
"I guess you can't say enough about that," Ernst said. "They had some good people there helping us out. We took some etchings and it was a very memorable day."
It was capped with an incredible return home that many of the veterans did not get in their return from war.
"For most Vietnam veterans, Vietnam era veterans, never got a welcome home," Patriot Guard Riders Steve Boutwell said. "They wanted to get home and pretended like they had never been in the service."
That was not the case today, as they got a heroes welcome that's better late than never.
