More Than 100 Veterans Get 'Honor Flight' Visit To D.C.: 'It's Been A Hell Of A Day'
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A group of veterans got the rock star treatment at Midway International Airport on Thursday.
Greeted with cheers and waving flags, a group of 13 World War II veterans and 95 Korean War veterans returned home Thursday night after a trip to Washington, D.C.
They got to visit a host of memorials as part of the Honor Flight program, which provides all-expenses-paid trips to the nation's capital; including chartered luxury buses to visit the National World War II Memorial, and the Korean War Veterans Memorial. When time and weather allow – they get to see other sites in Washington; including the Vietnam War Veterans Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, the National Air and Space Museum, and the Marine Corps War Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery.
Girl Scouts from Troop 248 in Munster, Ind., were among those welcoming the veterans back to Chicago.
One veteran was overcome with emotion trying to describe what the day meant to him.
"Holy cow! It just blew my mind! My mind has been blown since I walked in here at 4 o'clock this morning. It hasn't settled down. It's been a hell of a day," John Davis said.
Davis and other veterans veterans capped off the day with hugs and handshakes from Miss Illinois.