KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Stepping off the plane at Kansas City International Airport Thursday, Gonzalo Reyes felt something much different than 50 years ago.
Reyes is a Marine Corps veteran who served in the Vietnam War.
When he returned to the United States from his deployment, there was not a warm welcome.
"They made us take off our uniforms at the airport because we were getting spat on," Reyes said.
This week he participated in the Heartland Honor Flight.
An event takes veterans to Washington, D.C. to tour military memorials and museums.
Family, friends, military supporters, and community members gathered at KCI to welcome the group of veterans on the Honor Flight back to Kansas City by waving flags, holding signs, and supporting the veterans with chants.
"On the way down, they said, 'This is the welcome you didn’t get 50 years ago,' and we go, 'Yeah,'" Reyes said. "It takes you back 50 years; it actually does, to what it could’ve been and should’ve been."
Garnett Salmon was one of the other 90 veterans on the flight. He called the welcome home overwhelming.
“Unless you lived in that era, you have no idea how soldiers were treated," Salmon said.
Becky Smith and her family held a "Welcome Home" sign at the airport Thursday. Her husband and father-in-law were on the flight together.
"They just need to have a warm welcome home," she said. "They didn’t have that before and they deserve it."
On a typical Honor Flight, participants fly to Washington, tour sites, and fly home on the same day.
Wednesday night, a mechanical issue canceled this group’s scheduled return, delaying them to Thursday. Smith said none of the participants complained.
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