IN PHOTOS: A bus full of heroes, a journey full of stories
On the morning of Oct. 8, Patriot Express Honor Trips left Casper on its last of a handful of all-expenses-paid trips taking veterans, first responders and their families and chaperones on an overnight trip to the National Museum of Military Vehicles.
Along for the ride was a cast of colorful characters including Jack Gosar, a Korean War veteran; Dan Killian, his nephew; four active duty airmen based out of F.E. Warren; Donnie Watson and Brett Williams, a pair of longtime friends from Dayton and Sheridan respectively; and Army veteran Seth Linaman, who got his son Koen out of school to accompany him on the journey.
A rousing speech
Tom Day addresses a crowd of veterans shortly before they take off for the final Patriot Express Honor Trip of the year on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. Day founded Patriot Express — which gives veterans, first responders, chaperones and their families free trips to the National Museum of Military Vehicles in Dubois — in May 2025 as part of an effort to help veterans recreate some of the community they lost after coming home from the service.
Police escort
Natrona County Sheriff’s Deputy Jason Lutz led a police escort for the Patriot Express Honor Trips bus as it departed Casper not long after 8 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. Also accompanying the bus were a pair of Corvettes.
Passing the time
Donnie Watson, left, chats with his travel companion, Brett Williams, on a bus heading to the National Museum of Military Vehicles on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026.
Rolling out the red carpet
Jack Gosar, right, and his nephew Dan Killian, left, walk down the red carpet rolled out for vets by Patriot Express Honor Tours staff as they arrive at the National Museum of Military Vehicles on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. Gosar, 90 and a Casper resident, is a Korean War veteran who heard about the trip through a local senior center.
Walking the walk
Active duty airmen Bladimir Soto Gonzalez, left, and Rakeese Jones make their way into the National Museum of Military Vehicles after disembarking from the charter bus on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026.
Admiring the goods
Brett Williams points at display items in a case of historical bayonets at the National Museum of Military vehicles on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. Williams traveled to the museum with his longtime friend, Donnie Watson, who is just to Williams’s left.
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The gun that started it all
Seth Linaman, left, and his son Koen Linaman admire the centerpiece of the National Museum of Military Vehicles’s Unknown Soldiers Weapons Vault on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. The musket was purportedly used by a Continental Army soldier to kill the first British soldier at the Battle of Bunker Hill, the first military engagement fought by the newly formed army in 1775.
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Korean War veteran Jack Gosar ponders a display tank in an exhibit on Iwo Jima at the National Museum of Military Vehicles on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026.
Taking aim
Koen Linaman, right, peers down the sight of a dual-mounted Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft gun as he demonstrates how to maneuver the unwieldy weapon at the National Museum of Military Vehicles on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. The 7-year-old accompanied his father, Seth Linaman, who is an Army veteran, on the trip.
Manning the guns
Koen Linaman, 7, maneuvers a 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun under National Museum of Military Vehicles Curator Rae Whitley’s watch during a Patriot Express Honor Trip on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. Linaman got two days off school to go to the museum with his father, Seth, who is an Army veteran.
Pause for reflection
Veterans filter through a hallway leading to an exhibit on the Korean War and the Battle of Chosin Reservoir on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. The museum offers an extensive collection of military memorabilia that represents decades of American military history.
We will stand
Veterans meander through a hallway leading to a new exhibit at the National Museum of Military Vehicles on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026.
All smiles
Veterans, chaperones, some family members and volunteers pose after a long bus ride, museum tour and dinner on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, at the National Museum of Military Vehicles. The overnight trip was paid for by Patriot Express Honor Trips, a nonprofit founded in 2025 that takes vets and first responders to the museum a few times per year.
Taking charge
Patriot Express Honor Trips photographer and videographer Tammy Day, right, directs attendees as she attempts to arrange a re-take of the organization’s group photo on Friday, Oct. 9, 2026. The previous night’s photo was rendered unusable after someone closed their eyes.
A rousing tale
Jack Gosar, center, and Dan Killian, right, chat with a Patriot Express Honor Trips staff member on Friday, Oct. 8, 2026. Gosar, 90, of Casper, served in Korea not long after the 1953 armistice brought open combat in the still-ongoing war to an end.
Site superintendent
Koen Linaman, right, peruses a mountain of pieces as he oversees construction of a model half-track as his father assists on Friday, Oct. 9, 2026. Koen insisted on building the toy before the ride back home to Casper; he and Seth continued to build it on the bus.
Glamor shot
Helen Byrd and Cheryl Wrasper reluctantly smile for a photo after insisting a certain reporter only take “glamor shots” on the Patriot Express Honor Trips bus ride back to Casper on Friday, Oct. 9, 2026.
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Veterans await takeoff as the mostly-full Patriot Express Honor Trips charter bus readies for the return drive to Casper on Friday, Oct. 9, 2026. Some are ready to go home. Others, like Donnie Watson, would’ve preferred a 10-day stay.
Bright spotlight for Flat Stanley
Dan Killian, left, returns from a Patriot Express Honor Trip with Jack Gosar, his uncle, on Friday, Oct. 9, 2026. For the duration of the two-day trip, Killian toted Flat Stanley — the paper cutout he holds — and took photos of his paper pal to help his 8-year-old nephew Prescott with a school project.
Off-base shenanigans
From left: Carol Stenfield, Preston Holmes, Rakeese Jones and Bladimir Soto Gonzalez pose for a quick shot outside the Casper Elks Lodge after unloading from the Patriot Express Honor Trips bus on Friday, Oct. 9, 2026. The four were the only active duty members to attend Patriot Express’s October outing. All serve in the Air Force and are stationed at F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne.
Dylan Farrell
Public Safety Reporter
The bus headed west for a journey through military history, but the most meaningful moment came on the ride home, when one 90-year-old veteran put the trip's purpose into three simple words.
