by Alex Lloyd Gross
It happens every year. It starts in Bensalem and ends here. It’s a time when veterans come together. They meet at Parx Casino, board a series of buses and take a day trip to Washington DC. While they are there, they tour museums and visit monuments dedicated to the wars they fought in.
It’s an exhausting trip and a long ride back through traffic. When they return, they pick up a police escort and pull into Parx where it all started. Only when they return, a few hundred people are there to greet them. Once they walk the red carpet into the casino, they are treated to a full course dinner. All free of charge.
The welcome home ceremony is free and open to the public, with hotdogs and soda , and a DJ keeps people entertained and up to date on the progress and ETA of the bus. It’s mostly family and friends but many curious on lookers got a flag and waited with them.
Alex Lloyd Gross-Photo-Delaware Valley News.com People line up to welcome the veterans back home.
Tonight the crowd started to gather about 5:00PM and grew from a handful of people to about 250 by the arrival which was 6:40PM. They were escorted by Philadelphia Tac Air and at least 75 members of Warriors Watch. Multiple Bucks County Police Departments participated in the escort home.