On this Veterans’ Day, the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Pacific Band’s New Orleans Style Brass Band, Brass on the Beach, helped welcome home some of our nation’s heroes as they returned home to Honolulu after visiting the Nation’s Capital and the memorials that pay tribute to their service. The veterans were part of the Honor Flight Network’s first flight from Hawaii. The Honor Flight Network — which partners with Alaska Airlines — organizes trips to D.C. for retired service members. They left Honolulu on Alaska Airlines Monday, spent a night in Portland, and spent a day and a half seeing the nation’s war memorials. Honor Flight took veterans from World War II, the Korean and Vietnam Conflicts, Operations Desert Shield & Storm, and the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to Washington DC, and for some, this was their first trip to our Nation’s Capital. As the veterans left the gate today at the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, they were greeted by more people including Gov. David Ige and first lady Dawn Amano-Ige, as well as U.S. Rep. Ed Case. They sang the national anthem with their hands over their hearts reflecting on the sacrifices of all veterans and their fellow travelers, who’ve become friends. The first Honor Flight was in 2005. So far, more than 250,000 veterans across the country have taken part in the program to visit war memorials. The Honor Flight Network has planned trips for Hawaii Veterans next year and the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Pacific Band will be there to welcome them home. Provided is a link to Hawaii News Now’s coverage of the event.