Saturday night was prom night at Gahanna-Lincoln High School, but several students chose to skip the dance to say ‘thank you.’

“I knew it was going to conflict for a while now,” said Kyle Anders, a Gahanna senior. “I chose to come here instead.”

Anders spent his evening along with several of his fellow bandmates at John Glenn International Airport. The group played music as 89 veterans arrived home from their Honor Flight trip to Washington D.C.

“What they’ve done is really important so it’s an obvious sacrifice that I should take to help them too,” said Anders. “They’ve done so much for us.”

Many of the veterans served during the Vietnam War era, with a handful also serving in the Korean War. According to flight organizers, one veteran served in World War II.

All of them took notice of the students skipping prom mixed within the crowd of hundreds that greeted them.

“That’s wonderful,” said Chuck Christopher, an Army veteran. “Sometimes you wonder how the young kids treat veterans, but for them to do that is amazing.”

The next Honor Flight Columbus is scheduled for May 19.