Every year Scott Brown hosts an old-fashioned picnic at his family's farm. He says he want to honor those who gave their lives in service to our country and celebrate everyone who came home.

All day long, there will be music, hayrides, military jeep rides, and speeches.

Veterans are invited to stand up in the main tent, and share their stories and explain what freedom means to them.

"If you put veterans from the different wars up on the platform, they tell the stories of the past," Scott Brown said. "And all of the children here hear it, so it's a wonderful way to tell the stories of the past."

Scott Brown's father, Bill, was a fighter pilot in World War II. He said he is grateful to have been afforded the gift of time.

"It's a lovely thing to be with my son and my granddaughter and my grandson and just rejoice in this fresh new day that God has given me," he said.

William Henderson volunteered for the Marine Corps the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, and fought on the ground to take Iwo Jima.

"I realized that the things I had to endure while in service were so difficult, that the things I've faced in life have been much easier," said Henderson.

Buck Bunn said he lied about his age to enlist in the Air Force a year early. He was flying B-29s at the age of 17. Bunn said that while he entered the war a boy, he and many others returned as men.

"I learned more out of the war, having survived, than out of any one thing I've ever done," he said.

The men agree it's important for younger generations to be reminded the price that was paid for today's freedoms.

"If we don't know history, then we're bound to repeat it," Henderson said. "So maybe the mistakes that we made, I hope we learn from it, so we do not repeat them again."

The picnic takes place May 26, 10 a.m.- 4 p.m., at the Brown Family Farm, 3721 Quarry Road, Wake Forest.

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