Washington — It’s a Veterans Day they won’t soon forget.
On a balmy 70-degree day in the nation’s capital this past weekend, former President Barack Obama boarded an Honor Flight filled with veterans of the Korean and Vietnam wars that had just touched down from Madison, Wisconsin.
“Hello, everybody,” his voiced boomed over the loud speaker.
“What!” exclaimed one person. Another veteran gasped, his mouth wide open.
The Honor Flight Networks 
“I just wanted to say thank you,” the former president continued in a moment captured on video.
The Honor Flight Networks 
Seventy-nine veterans and their families made the trip.
Obama shook hands with them as they exited the aircraft and presented them with a Presidential Challenge Coin, a token to express his personal gratitude for their sacrifices.
The Honor Flight Networks 
“Ahead of Veterans Day, I was honored to welcome a flight of veterans and their families as they arrived in D.C.,” Obama said in a statement. “To all those who bravely served our country, thank you to you and your family for your extraordinary service. The sacrifices that all of you made to protect our country will be honored, today and every day.”
The Honor Flight Networks is a national non-profit organization that provides free flights to veterans to visit Washington-area monuments. It initially focused on World War II-era veterans but has expanded its mission to include veterans from the Korean and Vietnam Wars and other tours of duty.
“I had tears in my eyes,” said Army veteran Joe Parr. “I just couldn’t believe that there were that many people around that remembered us and was there to greet us and it was just unbelievable!”
The Honor Flight program has been in operation for 20 years and has served more than 317,000 veterans, according to its website.
“It started off very small and now a lot of states have their own hubs and they raise their own money and they set up the whole flights,” said Capt. Mary Quigley, a Navy veteran and Honor Flight volunteer.
