By Joe Genco, Eagle Staff Writer

A group of veterans from the region got a tour of the nation’s capital, meals and a patriotic welcome home last weekend — and all for free.

Organizers and participants with Honor Flight Pittsburgh say the group is off to a great start after its inaugural trip.

Honor Flight is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to providing combat veterans with a free trip to Washington D.C. Honor Flight Pittsburgh, a local hub, was formed earlier this year and had its first trip Saturday.

Because of the bad weather forecast from Hurricane Matthew or other reasons, several of the veterans who had signed up dropped out, but eight still made the trip, organizer George Pry said.

“It was awesome aside from the rain, and we had a great turnout for our welcome home,” Pry said.

Joining them on the trip were numerous volunteers, nurses and guardians, community members who pay their own way and act as tour guides for elderly or disabled veterans.

The group left Zelienople Airport in a bus early Saturday morning, spent the day in the nation’s capital and returned home late Saturday night.

Their itinerary for the day included seeing the changing of the guard at Arlington National Cemetery, visiting the Air Force, Marine Corps, Vietnam War, Korean War, World War II and Lincoln memorials and having lunch and dinner.

To the surprise of the veterans, when their bus got off Interstate 79 they were greeted by firetrucks, ambulances and motorcycles with the American Legion Riders, which escorted the bus to the airport. At the airport, they were greeted with applause by a group of about 150 people, including 93 Seneca Valley students.

Members of the Seneca Valley junior ROTC program made a saber arch that the veterans walked under and Seneca Valley band members played music, said Jim Lucot, a Seneca Valley history teacher who organized the welcome home.

Lucot said he hoped to get 25 students to show up and was impressed by the large turnout.

“I didn’t have to do much, they’re really great kids. They understand the return home of the Korean War vets and Vietnam War vets and how society looked at those vets,” he said.

One of the participants was Dean McMillen of Evans City, a Korean War veteran. McMillen said he enjoyed the trip and will recommend it highly to other vets.

“They do it all for you and it didn’t cost a penny,” he said. “I couldn’t believe anyone wouldn’t want to go on a trip like that after seeing how nice it was.”

Michael Mine of West Sunbury said he thought it was a worthwhile trip and it gave him and some of the other participants a chance to reflect on their military experience.

“I think it helped some of us. There were still some issues we had to deal with and it helped us to get through some of those things,” he said.

Ron Cepek of Harmony, who did three tours of service in Vietnam, said he appreciated the experience and hopes that more veterans will get a chance to go.

“We were treated so very well by George Pry and the volunteers. It was well put together and well organized, just fantastic,” he said.

None of the veterans had an inkling that they would greeted with such fanfare when they got back.

“I was blown away. None of us were expecting that,” Mine said.

Cepek said he especially appreciated the patriotism shown by the students.

“The signs and the ‘thank yous’ of the young people, that was so worthwhile; to see how they feel about us,” he said.

Seneca Valley senior Brock Gresock said he wanted to help welcome the veterans back, especially because most of them didn’t get a warm welcome when they returned from the war.

“It was definitely worth the wait, to see the expressions on their faces, it was worth it they were so excited and happy to see us,” he said.

Now that the group is up and running, they hope to organize two trips to Washington each year, Pry said. The next one is tentatively planned for April or May.

The organization currently offers the free trip to any veteran of World War II, the Korean War or the Vietnam War. The older veterans get priority.

For more information, visit www.honorflightpittsburgh.org