Former President Barack Obama greeted veterans on an honor flight on Monday, Nov. 10.

Obama, 64, spoke with veterans of World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War as they boarded the aircraft. “Hello, everybody,” the former president began as passengers on the flight gasped in surprise.

“As we approached Veteran’s Day, I wanted to stop by and just say thank you for your extraordinary service to you, your family, the sacrifices that all of you made to protect our country is something that will always be honored,” Obama continued.

“And, we are very grateful, and we also happen to welcome you with a 70-degree day in D.C., which doesn’t always happen around here,” the 44th president concluded.

The veterans onboard were given a tour of local Washington, D.C. monuments that honor their respective periods as members of the U.S. military through The Honor Flight Network, a national nonprofit organization that provides these flights to veterans free of cost, according to its website.

“That’s the first time I’ve seen a president, former or current, greet an honor flight, and that is absolutely amazing. Commander in chief, a leader who’s going to show up and tell you that your service was worth something. I think that’s the important part, so I think it was a great thing,” Captain Mary Quigley, a retired U.S. Naval officer who led the tour, said of Obama’s visit.

U.S. Air Force veteran James Nelson said of Obama meeting the veterans, “It was really the joy of my heart today to see all these people.”

Another veteran told Obama as he got off the plane, “The last time I got to see a president it was Gerald Ford,” he said, to which Obama replied, “How ’bout that?” Ford served as the 38th president from 1974 to 1977.

Joe Parr, a U.S. Army Veteran, said, “I had tears in my eyes, I just couldn’t believe that there was that many people around that remembered us and was there to greet us, and it was just unbelievable.”

“This all means a lot, because back then, you got off the plane there, and you had no welcome, and people were almost booing you,” U.S. Army Veteran Greg Adkins added, according to a video shared by CBS News.

U.S. Navy veteran Nels Swenson added in the clip: “I’m real happy that now, with the current troops that come back from deployments, they get welcome back really nice because that’s what should happen. So it’s being recreated in this flight, and it makes you feel good.”

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“I haven’t flown for 50 years. And I was in the military from ‘ 72 to ’76, our country puts these things up, these memorials, honoring the men and women that served. You couldn’t ask for something greater,” U.S. Marines veteran Dennis Guptill said.