VINELAND--- Over 90 former and current members of the military from Vineland, received a loud and collective 'Thank You' on the steps of City Hall Friday evening.

The city's first ever Veterans Welcome Home Ceremony was designed to honor and say thank you to present and past Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines, who have never been officially welcomed home.

One of the veterans recognized at the event was Vineland resident Robert Burch -- an Army veteran who fought for his country in Vietnam, but never got so much as a thank you for his service, until tonight, "....we never actually got any honors like we have here now, so its actually way over do....it feels good for once."

One of the people responsible for organizing the event was Joseph Hampton, a Korean War vet who said he got the idea because of the way that veterans are often treated and over looked, "....every once in a blue moon somebody will come up...thank you for your service, but that's so few...people don't stop and think."

Having fought in a more recent conflict was Vineland resident Dereck Kelley, a member of the Army's elite 82nd Airborne Division, who just returned from Afghanistan. He said that events like this allow people in towns like Vineland to see, first hand, who the service members are, "....its nice to put a face on to (service members) so you can see among your community, people that are going out there and doing this."