News : Honor Flight reunites families while thanking Veterans

Donald Buss of Cedar Rapids is welcomed at Dulles Airport.

Max Beck and Dale Speckner at the WWII Memorial.

Ground Crew member Karen Rippe welcomes Iowa WWII veteran Donald Marx to Washington.

Burt Davis with guardian Jeff Peterson and his family at the Eastern Iowa Airport Tuesday.

Veterans share their stories with Channel 2 reporter.

Steve Lucas the father and Steve Lucas the son with their wives and relative Donald Marx.

Deb Rundlett met daughter Josie, who works in DC, at the WWII Memorial on Tueday.

Col. Temon Oujiri and his cousin, George, a WWII vet from CR, at the WWII Memorial.

James Kautz, Jr., took this flag to the WWII Memorial to honor his late father.

Cindy Elwick and her father, Jay Bolin.

When Cedar Rapids WWII veteran George Oujiri stepped off the bus at the World War II Memorial, another Oujiri was waiting to greet him with a big bear hug: Col. Temon Oujiri, an Army Review Board member who works at the Pentagon.

The two Oujiris spent most of the afternoon together, reminiscing and sharing stories. Col. Oujiri rode with the veterans throughout the day, and offered some of his knowledge about DC and its war memorials. Col. Oujiri has a unique variety of Army experience, from helping respond to the attack on the Pentagon on 9/11 to serving as a referee for an Army/Navy football game (which, says the Army man, Navy won).

Several other participants met family members in D.C. to share the special day with them. Steve Lucas of Vinton and his son Steve Lucas, an active duty soldier who has done ordinance disposal in Afghanistan spent time with relative Donald Marx of Cedar Rapids, one of the WWII vets on the Honor Flight.

Guardian Deb Rundlett spent a little time at the WWII Memorial with daughter Josie, who has worked for Sen. Charles Grassley and now works as a staff member for Freshman Representative Renee Ellmers from North Carolina.

And as with other Honor Flights, several of the veterans were accompanied by one of their children. Cindy Elwick was the guardian for her father, William "Jay" Bolin.

"It was wonderful," said Elwick. "I couldn't get over all the people who just walked up and said 'Thank you.' My dad was kinda floored with all the people who weren't even involved in the Honor Flight who came up to him to thank him, students and older people. It was a wholly moving experience."

Robert Allard of Urbana was accompanied by his son, Dennis. Brad Koehler of Minnetonka, Minnesota, came down to Iowa to join his fagther, Robert Koehler of Washington, Iowa.

Dennis Naughton joined his mother, Doris, who met her late husband while both were stationed in Hawaii. On Tuesday Dennis and Doris had their photo taken in front of the Hawaii pillar (Each state and U.S. territory has its own monument to honor those who served from every area of the U.S.) They briefly shared the story of how his parents met their, and how his mother had to return to the states when she was pregnant with Dennis.

Others participated in honor of deceased parents who served during World War II.

James Kautz, Jr., served as a guardian. When he arrived at the WWII Memorial, he brought the flag presented to his family at the funeral of his father, who died in 1971.