DENVER, Colo. -- Eleven Colorado veterans return home from Iwo Jima after commemorating the 65th anniversary of the bloody World War II battle on the island.

7News reporter Dayle Cedars traveled with the veterans and was at Denver International Airport to welcome them home with family and a celebration.

"Welcome home," said Steffan Tubbs, of 850 KOA, who also traveled with the veterans. "It is great to have you home."

The group of Iwo Jima survivors was welcomed with open arms with a full military reception and cowbells from family members.

Veteran Jim Blane teared-up at the welcome. "Pretty warm inside that there are still people out there that believe in freedom and the way of our life," said Blane.

But this trip is about the lives of the veterans -- 11 men who survived the brutal and deadly battle of Iwo Jima in 1945.

"We all have what is known as survivor guilt," said Blane.

The veterans returned to the island with trepidation. The emotion of landing on Iwo Jima was almost too much for flame thrower Joe Weinmeier to handle.

The survivors began their trip on the island at the landing beaches where many came ashore to gunfire and had to maneuver through dead bodies to get ashore.

The peacefulness of the waves was eerie for some and difficult as they knew many of their fellow marines died within minutes, even seconds of stepping foot on the island.

"The men that didn't survive," said Weinmeier, talking about what he thought about when he returned to the beaches.

The veterans then drove to the top of Mount Sirabachi, the site of the famous flag raising. On top, looking down at the beaches and the monument which stands there, there was pride.

And in the end, these men believe their trip will give them peace.

"I think I will feel better and [be able to] put a lot of [the] thoughts in my mind behind me," said Weinmeier.

And that, for many was the purpose of the trip.

"I've got to get rid of all the flashbacks and nightmares and those types of things," said Blane. "So I think the rest of my years are going to be a bit better because I went."

The veterans went on the trip with the Greatest Generations Foundation, a non profit dedicated to returning vets to their battlefields before they die.

These veterans almost didn't make it to Iwo Jima. The original charter flight scheduled to take the vets from Okinawa to Iwo Jima was canceled when the plane moved to Haiti to help with relief efforts. The second flight was canceled because of maintenance issues and then the Japanese government refused to let the veterans land on the island.

In the end, the White House and Japanese ambassador, with the aid of Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-Golden) and the marines made the trip possible.