CRESTLINE — Four veterans from Crestline recently embarked on a trip of a lifetime after they were chosen to take an Honors Flight to Washington D.C.

U.S. Army veterans Allen Johnson, Ronald Fuson and Mike Kelly, along with U.S. Navy veteran Dave Saurers Sr., headed to Baltimore then Washington D.C. from Columbus last Saturday.

The four have been friends for many years.

“We were here, at the VFW, one day and started talking about it,” Fuson said. “We then filled out the applications to be on the Honors Flight. There was a total of 93 Veterans and 53 guardians on our trip.”

They credited the guardians that spent the entire day with them in making their trip extra special.

“They made sure we had everything we needed, water all day, snacks. They were wonderful,” Johnson said.

Fuson’s guardian was Tim Ryan while the others were paired up with Chris and Katherine Gaitlin from the Columbus area.

Saurers said the guardians pay their own way to accompany veterans on the Honor Flights.

“It costs them about $400 and they pay it out of their pocket. It’s all voluntary,” Saurers said.

Fuson said the total cost of the trip is around $65,000 and is paid for by area businesses and organizations.

While all four said they loved every bit of their trip, they were really impressed by the Vietnam Nurses and Air Force monuments.

They all agree that the trip and huge homecoming welcome in Columbus attended by at least 1,000 people was closure for them.

“We served in Vietnam, so we did not get a homecoming like others have. People spit at us, threw things at us. We were called baby killers. We finally received the homecoming we had been longing for,” Kelly said with tears in his eyes.

Fuson said family and friends were there to welcome them home along with hundreds of others.

“I kept it together until a little girl, probably about 2-years-old, came up to me, shook my hand and said thank you for your service. I lost it,” Fuson said.

All four veterans agree it was the best trip they had ever been on and are happy they were chosen for the Honors Flight.

For more information about the Honors Flight program, visit https://www.honorflight.org.