Former members of U.S. Army Balloon Corps reunite at Fort Omaha in 1981

OMAHA, Neb. —

Ex-Fort Omaha soldiers came together at the 50th annual reunion of the U.S. Army Balloon Corps in 1981.

Their average age was 85, and one even flew his own plane to Omaha in order to make the event.

The U.S. Army Balloon Corps was born in 1917 at Fort Omaha after years of experimental and training flights.

“We were on the front 251 days without relief,” said veteran Craig Herbert. “We were in seven battles. We never took our clothes off. We were sleeping in the mud, crawling the cooties. We had dysentery. We were just visible all the way through.”

See the whole story in the video above.

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