The Honor Flight is a network organization that brings older veterans to Washington D.C. free of charge. It gives Marines, sailors, airmen and soldiers one last tour of duty with honor.

It all started at the Tops Friendly Markets headquarters northeast of Buffalo city limits for a special class of 29 Vietnam-era Purple Heart recipients.

"The buses will be here shortly," Buffalo Niagara Honor Flight President Tom Petri told a packed room of volunteers, guardians, veterans and other special guests.

Mission 14 got ready to hit the road after a quick ceremony in Williamsville.

Loading a few buses, the road escort was queued up and off they went to Buffalo Niagara International Airport, where the culmination of hard work by volunteers, sponsors and a whole slew of veterans began to really take shape.

"It's just an awesome experience to see everything that everyone has done," said Honor Flight volunteer and first-time participant Terry Harmon. "It's an honor to be here."

"Everybody has such talent and such passion for our veterans and that's what really helps," added Nancy Babis, who is one of the organization's directors and president of New York State's American Legion Auxiliary.

One of the honorees this go-round is John Farrell. He’s a Navy corpsman, and those in the service affectionately called him “Doc” from 1969 to 1971.

"When I was young I wish to hear stories about my father and my uncles and their generation," said Farrell standing next to the terminal and ready for departure. "And they came back from their wars after their sacrifices. And they were welcomed with open arms."

But not him — and so many other veterans, as he explained his welcome home after serving in Vietnam and working to save the life of so many.

"I thought [a woman] was going to hug me and welcomed me home,” Farrell said. “Instead, she put her hands on my shoulder and she spit in my face. And she called me a baby killer."

This would be a stark contrast to the immediate support shown before takeoff, down the gangway in Buffalo and right back out an hour and change later at Baltimore's Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.

If you've seen one of these honor flight stories before on Spectrum News 1, you might recognize Fred Taylor — the town crier of more than a decade welcoming Honor Flights.

"It's just a real treat to see the excitement on their faces," Taylor said. “[And to say] 'Welcome home.’”

The surprises keep coming -- in this case a reunion for Senior Master Sergeant Jennifer Robertson with Patrick Garrigan.

"It goes way back,” Robertson said. “When he was in Vietnam, my father took care of him after he got shot. Then growing up when I've been deployed, he's taking care of me. So I've just paid it back."

One of the unique aspects of this trip was checking into a hotel. This marks this branch's first overnight stay.

After settling in there was dinner promptly followed by a longstanding tradition of mail call.

Hundreds of letters from D.C. and Buffalo-area students were collected between flights, all mixed in with cards and letters from loved ones as a special thanks.

The veterans and guardians, refueled and reinvigorated, make their way to the keynote stop on this honor flight for Vietnam-era heroes — the wall. They gathered first for a picture to commemorate the stop and then reflected by the 58,000-plus names cased in black granite at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

"You fight for your life. They tell you where you're going at day. It’s 100-degree temperature, but just you got to do it," remembered Don Kusz, a two-time Purple Heart recipient.

Not everyone who walks by the wall understands the gravity of the names and sacrifices on display.

"There's a sense of responsibility, all these names are people who died to give you what you have now,” Kusz said.

But there are moments of hope from one generation to another. The group made their way over to the patrolling statues at the Korean War memorial before taking in the sites of the Capitol and calling it a night.