FAYETTEVILLE -- A very special flight took off from the Fayetteville Regional Airport Saturday morning.

The Snowball Express non-profit treated Gold Star families across the nation, families that have lost their loved ones in combat, to an all-expenses paid trip to Dallas for the holidays. More than 1,600 family members took the Snowball Express to Texas on Saturday, including more than a hundred from Fayetteville.

The 12th annual trip features many repeat flyers who say the Snowball Express is the only time they can be around others with a similar experience.

"People treat you differently a lot of the time," said Maddy Voss whose father, SSGT Michael Voss, was killed in Iraq. "You'll just be having a normal conversation and then somehow it comes up. Then people are like 'Oh, I'm sorry' and they just don't treat you like how they normally would."

"They get to share their story. I get to share my story," added Jeffrey Sellars whose father, SSGT Jeffrey Sellars, Sr. died while serving in the Czech Republic. "We make new friends and feel with them. You cry, I cry."

The Snowball Express returns to Fayetteville on December 13.