Feeding area veterans and their families before the Tulsa Veterans Day parade has been a VFW Post 577 tradition for many years.

The breakfast is free, and volunteers serve up classics like eggs, sausage, hashbrowns, biscuits and gravy, and pastries.

There to greet veterans as they came in was Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell.

"The freedoms that we have in America are because of the veterans that protect us each and every day, so today is a day to say thank you," he said.

Patriotic songs performed by a local elementary school choir help share that gratitude with the veterans.

John Hairston, 92, said he was impressed by the effort.

"I, over the years, have just become more appreciative of the fact that we are honored in this way," he added.

Hairston was only 17 years old when he volunteered to join the Air Force, but the call to serve his country came at the age of nine when he heard a news report come across the radio.

"It said the Japanese have bombed Pearl Harbor," Hairston continued saying, "That changed my life tremendously."

His life became about service and sacrifice. Hairston went on to serve in the Korean War.

This year, he is one of the Tulsa Veterans Day Parade honorees along with 33-year Army veteran Col. Joe Haning.

He was a 1st Lieutenant in the Vietnam War and served 22 of his years in the military overseas.

"It is very humbling because I do not really think I did all that much, I was just doing my duty," Haning said.

To learn more about VFW Post 577 and its programs, CLICK HERE.