WILLIAMSPORT -- A business in Williamsport held its tenth annual celebration to honor our nation's veterans.
The company has a special reason for celebrating Veterans Day each year: almost half of its employees served our country.
Joe Diblin served our country for more than 20 years in the United States Air Force. It was a homecoming celebration for the 96 year old from Northumberland.
He was the guest speaker at the Veterans Day ceremony at Lycoming Engines where he worked for 25 years.
"I get emotional about it. I lost so many friends. I lost two younger brothers. Veterans Day is a little emotional for me,” Diblin said.
It was the tenth year for the Veterans Day ceremony at Lycoming Engines. The company in Williamsport builds airplane engines. Around 250 employees and elected officials attended the ceremony. Many of the employees are veterans themselves.
"It's really nice to know you work for a company that takes care of the veterans and shows support. Not all companies do that,” said Air Force veteran Neil Baughman.
"It's not too hard to set aside 30, 45 minutes of a day to give that kind of recognition to those who served,” said Lycoming Engines general manager Michael Kraft.
More than 400 people work at Lycoming Engines and managers say about 40 percent of those employees are veterans."
"This is the type of work that they have excellent training in the military. They choose to come here. Part of it is just the nature of the community we have here in Williamsport,” Kraft said.
The event is a tradition employees say they hope will continue year after year at Lycoming Engines.