As soon as World War II veteran Jack Marsh set foot in the barracks on Joint Base Lewis-McChord, a familiar feeling came over him.

Nearly 70 years earlier, Marsh was a young Soldier in the beginning stages of his military career and newly stationed at then Fort Lewis.

"I went in one barracks and it felt just like home," said the 88-year-old Marsh.

Marsh and a group of other WWII, Korean and Iraq War veterans made the trek up to JBLM and Camp Murray from Portland, Ore., earlier this month as part of a daylong trip to revisit where they were stationed years ago. The group also visited the museum on Camp Murray.

Sgt. Nicky Colon, a Soldier with the Oregon National Guard's Company A, 141st Brigade Support Battalion, organized the trip and drove the van full of veterans, their wives and a few other friends. Colon got to know the group after joining the local Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Portland.

"I started getting more involved with doing things with veterans," Colon said. "I just enjoy it."

The sergeant's unit has also embraced the relationship with the area veterans.

"They're behind them 100 percent," Colon said.

Joining Marsh on the trip was Burl Yates, Jim McKee and Roy Hollibaugh. Yates, an 89-year-old Beaver Creek resident, was a Guardsman stationed at Camp Murray in 1941.

After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Yates remembers being moved up to Boeing Field for a couple months to guard it against any threats.

McKee, an 80-year-old Portland resident and Korean War Marine Corps veteran, and Hollibaugh, who did a stint in the National Guard, also passed through Fort Lewis during their careers.

All couldn't believe how much the installation has changed since they last visited.

"It's not like anything I remember," Yates said as the group gathered for a meal at a restaurant outside Camp Murray before heading back to Portland.

"It's changed dramatically," Marsh added. "They've done so much stuff to it."

Marsh admitted he did get a little emotional when he visited the barracks, but all the gratitude and respect each Soldier the group met on the trip really enriched the experience. The group got a personal tour of a couple of helicopters on the base, much to the delight of McKee.

"I really enjoyed seeing all the modern equipment," he said. "Those helicopters are something else."

For the most part, storytelling and lively banter throughout the group kept the trip exciting.

"It's been a lot of laughs," McKee said. "It's been an exciting trip."

The relationship between those who have served in the past and those currently serving is something older veterans value, several in the group said. But that relationship sometimes needs help growing.

Colon hopes to bridge that gap and perhaps attract more young veterans into the fold with more road trips.

"Maybe next year I'll get a bus," he said with a laugh.