Buhl Veteran returns from his Honor Flight to a surprise from the community

BUHL, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) — Bill Pryor was met by Patriotic music, and applause from the Buhl community as he returned home from his Honor Flight to Washington D.C.

86-year-old Bill Pryor was the first veteran from Twin Falls County to be recognized for his service with an Honor Flight.

Much of the work that went into welcoming Bill back home was done through the Joining Forces Magic Valley organization.

“It’s a group that meets once a month, at County West here in Twin Falls County and we talk about veterans, one person, one family at a time, and Marvin Barnes and others that have done a lot of planning to set this day up to celebrate his life, and his life as a veteran,” said Brent Reinke, a Twin Falls County commissioner.

Pryor served in the Air Force for 20 years and worked on B-52′s until he retired in the 1970′s.

He then moved to Buhl.

Pamela McClain is the mayor of Buhl and says she has loved getting to know him.

“He’s been very active in Buhl, he was a police officer in Buhl, years ago, so a lot of the people my age remembers being stopped by him, or talking to him when he was a police officer, so he has served this community well and he has served this country well,” said McClain.

When he was in Washington D.C., he was able to tour around all of the monuments and memorials as well as attend a special dinner with other honor flight recipients from the United States.

“There was a bunch of ‘em there, we had one guy that was 102 years old, from World War II,” said Bill Pryor.

He was not expecting the welcome home party though.

“It was a fantastic honor,” said Pryor.

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