CHEYENNE, Wyo. (KDVR) — Former and current members of the military were honored with free tickets to see the rodeo at Cheyenne Frontier Days.

It was hot, dusty, loud and proud. That can only mean one thing: it was military appreciation day at Cheyenne Frontier Days, and for some that meant their very first rodeo.

“I grew up in Idaho. You would think I have been to a few, but I was a bit of a city boy growing up and it took me joining the Wyoming Guard to actually feel what country was really all about,” U.S. Air Force Captain Daniel Hochhalter said on Monday.

Hochhalter is the commander of the 243rd Air Traffic Control Squad in Cheyenne.

“It really to me just embodies what America is all about. We have been through a lot the last year and a half. We can all admit that, right? And to realize that we can come to a place and all agree on one thing: we just want to have some fun,” he said.

Hochhalter told FOX31’s Dan Daru he can identify with rodeo in a way he had not expected.

”This country is made up of so many different little pockets — some are melting pots, some are separate in their way — but we are all united in the freedom that we get to enjoy, to express ourselves, whether it’s riding a bull or playing a horn in New Orleans,” he said.

So, did he like it? 

“I  need to find me a good hat and some cowboy boots,” he said.