Before the Warriors to Washington set off for D.C., some of the members were honored by the state of Pennsylvania.

Joe Pfadt, President of Warriors to Washington explained where the idea came from.

"About ten years or so ago, I started thinking about what would be a great way to repay our local veterans for their time, effort, the things that they do for us and a special way to say thank you and the idea of what the honor flights did was really appealing to me, clearly the honor flights have a place in America right now and they do great work but we are not quite that big and we are just fortunate enough to be within bus distance of Washington so the idea of taking veterans to Washington, D.C. is a way of saying thank you," Pfadt said.

Some of the members of Warriors to Washington were honored by the state of Pennsylvania, something State Senator Dan Laughlin says is well deserved.

"These guys put their freedoms on the line for us and fought for our freedoms, they left their families, went and fought for this country and I think that these little things that we can do for them, this little tip of the hat, like saying thanks I think it's important," Laughlin said.

"A trip down to D.C. to see all the monuments, check out the Capitol, Constitution and moreover to be able to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, I mean, that is a dream come true," said Joe Benacci, Erie County Director of Veterans Affairs.

John Galle-Boyko, Treasurer of Warriors to Washington, hopes the trip will bring our veterans closer together.

"Our local veterans today don't get as much recognition as they have in the past, they don't have that camaraderie like they were going to the American Legions or the VFW and we want to bring the younger folks as well as the older folks together on a trip like this for a weekend to breathe in that camaraderie that has been lacking in Erie County," Galle-Boyko said.