{"id":281559,"date":"2026-04-23T05:51:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T05:51:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/281559\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T05:51:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T05:51:17","slug":"kern-county-honor-flight-brings-more-than-100-veterans-home-from-washington-d-c","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/281559\/","title":{"rendered":"Kern County Honor Flight brings more than 100 veterans home from Washington, D.C."},"content":{"rendered":"

BAKERSFIELD, Calif.(KBAK\/KBFX) \u2014 More than 100 local veterans and volunteers returned home after a two-day trip to Washington, D.C.,<\/a> reuniting with families who had been waiting for their arrival.<\/p>\n

\"Kern<\/p>\n

Kern County’s Honor Flight returns to Bakersfield on April 22, 2026. (KBAK\/KBFX)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was heart-moving, it was amazingoverwhelmed on how many people were here to welcome them back and send them off. It was beautiful,\u201d Anna Rodriguez said.<\/p>\n

The trip was part of Kern County\u2019s Honor Flight, <\/a>which gives veterans a first-time chance to visit the nation\u2019s capital and its military memorials.<\/p>\n

\"Kern<\/p>\n

Kern County’s Honor Flight returns to Bakersfield on April 22, 2026. (KBAK\/KBFX)<\/p>\n

For local veteran Ernesto Lemus, the experience was unforgettable.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy first time, and, oh my God, it was so awesome. And I just couldn’t imagine all of this. It just really blew me away,\u201d Lemus said.<\/p>\n

\"Kern<\/p>\n

Kern County’s Honor Flight returns to Bakersfield on April 22, 2026. (KBAK\/KBFX)<\/p>\n

Local veteran William Albrecht also called the trip meaningful.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really good, it was worthwhile,\u201d Albrecht said.<\/p>\n

The mission of the Honor Flight is to thank veterans for their service and ensure their sacrifices are never forgotten. When the group returned, they were met with cheers and a welcome home that carried special meaning for some.<\/p>\n

\"Kern<\/p>\n

Kern County’s Honor Flight returns to Bakersfield on April 22, 2026. (KBAK\/KBFX)<\/p>\n

For Albrecht, it was a reception he said he had never received before.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were pretty much shunned then; we weren\u2019t liked people in the military. It was really nice this time. Very, very nice,\u201d Albrecht said.<\/p>\n

Guardians who traveled alongside the veterans said the impact of the trip was clear to see.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was an amazing experience. I was here with my father-in-law, so I got to spend time with him and another veteran, who I was his guardian, so it was awesome to see it through their eyes,\u201d Jack Digiacomo said.<\/p>\n

\"Kern<\/p>\n

Kern County’s Honor Flight returns to Bakersfield on April 22, 2026. (KBAK\/KBFX)<\/p>\n

Lemus said he will cherish the memories and the connections made during the trip.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll my vets all my friend vets that I met on the trip. It was just awesome. When we served, we had the camaraderie, but not as good as it is right now,\u201d Lemus said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BAKERSFIELD, Calif.(KBAK\/KBFX) \u2014 More than 100 local veterans and volunteers returned home after a two-day trip to Washington,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":281560,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[151,153,152],"class_list":["post-281559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield-headlines","tag-bakersfield-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=281559"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281559\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/281560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=281559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=281559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=281559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}