INDIANAPOLIS — Ten local veterans met at Indianapolis International Airport Monday to fly to our nation’s capital ahead of Veterans Day to be honored for their service and sacrifice. It was all made possible by Meta. News 8 got a chance to speak to the veterans before their flight.

“I’m dumbfounded,” said U.S. Navy veteran Roger Gilliland. “I’m at a loss for words. I’ve never seen anything like this, the friendly faces, the friendship and how everybody comes out in a way I feel like it’s just me.”

It was a show of patriotism at Gate B-14 for veterans.

“I’m nobody special,” Gilliland said. “You do what you had to do and survived.”

This Honor Flight will travel to our nation’s capital to visit museums and national memorials built in honor of their service and sacrifice and attend special ceremonies and a signature celebration event.

“This honor flight represents a nation saying thank you for service to women and to me as a black American,” said U.S. Army veteran Stephanie Gilliland. “I’m very honored, and I’m very proud.”

Stephanie Gilliland is taking the memory of her father with her.

“I lost my dad in July of this year,” she said. “It hits a little bit differently. So, I’m not only looking at my father’s comrades, but I’m carrying on his memory.”

Meta sponsored this honor flight while donating 130,000 pairs of Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses to visually impaired and blind veterans across the country.

“To thank them for spending the money, and they’re spending a lot of money on all of us,” said U.S. National Guard veteran Glen Don Walker.