FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) \u2014 Veteran after veteran received the welcome home they\u2019ve waited decades for.<\/p>\n
A far cry from what Dean Eller came home to 57 years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe only people who even talked to me were soliciting donations,\u201d he said. \u201cThat was my welcome home.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eller, like so many Vietnam veterans, was met with hostility rooted in an unpopular war.<\/p>\n
Like so many Vietnam veterans, he threw out what he had cried, sweat and bled in while half a world away.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause of the protests that were going on, I took my duffel bag, I took it over to the largest garbage can I could find while I was still at the LAX airport,\u201d he said. \u201cI took out my shaving kit, I took the rest of the duffel bag, all my uniforms and dumped it into the garbage can.\u201d<\/p>\n
From that point on, Eller says he wouldn\u2019t stand in recognition of his own service alongside other veterans.<\/p>\n
Last week, that changed.<\/p>\n
For the first time in his life, Eller stood among dozens of fellow veterans as they were honored for their service during October\u2019s Central Valley Honor Flight.<\/p>\n
He shared his struggles and how the trip helped him heal from them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe camaraderie of the guys, it takes you back,\u201d Eller said.<\/p>\n
Eller\u2019s service to others didn\u2019t end after the war.<\/p>\n
In 1999, he became the President and CEO of the Central California Blood Center.<\/p>\n
It was more than a job for him \u2014 it was a way to honor his daughter\u2019s legacy.<\/p>\n
Jenny Eller was just 17 when she was diagnosed with leukemia. She fought hard for four years, encouraging blood donations all the while.<\/p>\n
Jenny was 21 years old when she died, but the generosity of strangers is something her father has never forgotten.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou cannot, as a father, replace those four years, those four more birthdays and four more Christmases,\u201d Dean said. \u201cThe only thing I really didn\u2019t get to see was to see my daughter get married. Other than that, blood donors gave me an entire lifetime of memories.\u201d<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, the Honor Flight was almost cancelled due to a lack of funds.<\/p>\n
Instead of one more disappointment, there was one more show of kindness \u2014 the people of the Central Valley coming together to find that flight.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were not going to let the veterans who were already scheduled to go not go,\u201d Dean said. \u201cOne more disappointment in their lives. One more downer. They were not going to let that happen, and they didn\u2019t. God bless them.\u201d<\/p>\n
By ABC 30\u2019s Kerry Mannix on Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n Copyright \u00a9 2026 KFSN-TV. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n