WASHINGTON D.C. — Three busloads of Oklahoma's bravest pulled up to Tulsa International Airport dark and early, ready to board a flight unlike any other.
Veterans like Paul Henry Lonnstrom weren't welcomed with open arms after putting their lives on the line for their country.
WATCH: 'This makes it all better': 67 Oklahoma veterans board honor flight to D.C.
"I served from October of 1968 to October of 1970," said Lonnstrom. "I was a medic, a combat medic, and then I went straight from there to Vietnam."
He only came home because of a head injury.
“It was a hard time when we came back," said Lonnstrom. “When we first came home, you were told not to wear your uniform, none of that, so yeah. It was sad, but this makes it all better.”
That injury brought him back to Washington, D.C., over the years for the Vietnam Head Injury Study, so he's been lucky enough to visit the monuments built in his and his comrades' honor a few times.
Though being back with 66 other brothers and sisters in service is a different kind of healing.
“Coming here, it’s closure in some ways, especially this trip that we just did here," he said. "I mean, that’s been a long time in the making, the welcome home.”
Also among those on the 11th Oklahoma Warriors Honor Flight was Vietnam veteran Jim Gummere.
He shared the same sentiment: not getting that welcome home. Gummere served in the U.S. Air Force for 26 years and 12 days.
“My job was off the ramp, calling anti-aircraft coming up," he said. "I was responsible for the other 16 people on the airplane. Some close calls, some that were really close, and some that were off in the distance."
2 News Oklahoma's Stef Manchen asked Gummere what kept him there.
"Comradery," he told her. "The people. The job I was doing.”
Gummere last visited the Vietnam Memorial in the 1980's, more than 40 years ago.
Until the April 2026 honor flight.
“The other parts were okay, but this was the culmination," Gummere said, staring at the wall.
This was what he had waited all day for. Gummere found some closure with an old friend who had been missing in action for 34 years and was repatriated in 2006.
Gummere found his name on the wall.
“As they said on the bus, go touch the wall, everything will go into place," he said. “Emotional. I got to see this guy. Got to talk to him. One of the things I wanted to do, and it worked out.”
The veterans toured the Marine Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery, the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, the Korean War Memorial, and the World War II Memorial, with a guardian in tow.
Some brought family, and some were assigned to a volunteer, like Valerie Bowen.
Bowen made the trip from Tulsa to the nation's capital on the Oklahoma Warrior Honor Flight nine times, not knowing any of her veterans.
“I just could never repay these veterans enough," she said. “I met my veteran last night. Some veterans do not have family members that go with them, some choose not to have them go, some don’t have anybody available, so I just find a new friend every time I go.”
What she's learned from all those trips, Bowen said, is that many veterans didn't get the welcome home they deserved.
That's what makes the honor flight so special.
Before touching down back at home, our heroes got a mid-flight surprise.
Mail call.
“It’s all from different people, letters," said Vietnam Army veteran Kenneth Wirtz. "This whole day has just been.. It’s hard to believe. When we hit that airport in Dulles, DC, those people lining up there, that just about choked me up.”
But it didn't end there.
“The welcome home at the airport is worth the whole trip," said Bowen. "I get goosebumps every time, and I know what’s going to happen.”
Family and friends lined the halls at TIA ahead of the veterans deplaning, roaring a 'U-S-A' chant and waving flags high.
A welcome home to make up for what these heroes missed all those years ago.
While Gummere said it was long overdue, he said he gets a lot of thanks here in Oklahoma.
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