Welcome Home

A crowd filled the Springfield-Branson National Airport the morning of Dec 22, 2025 as retired Army Sergeant First Class James “Dan” Bunch finished a journey that began more than half a century ago in Vietnam. On a different kind of mission than his first in 1968, Bunch returned to Vietnam last month as one of seven honored veterans among a select team of 20 College of the Ozarks students and 10 sponsors with the C of O Patriotic Education Program. While angry mobs and protests awaited returning soldiers in the late 1960s, more than 100 friends, family, supporters and strangers stood cheering with American flags and signs welcoming Bunch, along with retired Chief Warrant Officer 5 Gregory McManus and College of the Ozarks President Brad Johnson back to US soil just days ago.