WASHINGTON—On a blustery, partly cloudy spring day, 77-year-old Army veteran George Walker never noticed his own reflection on the shiny black granite surface.
He was too focused on a symbolic reunification with five of his boyhood pals from Mentor, Ohio. Decades-old emotions and memories roiled inside Walker as he found his friends’ names among those of more than 58,000 dead or missing U.S. servicemembers on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall.
Tears welled up in Walker’s eyes as he told The Epoch Times, “It makes me feel good to see their names, because I really miss ‘em.” Then he paused. His voice cracked, and he said, “They were good friends—all of ‘em.”
Later, he said, “It broke my heart. That’s all I can say.”
Walker can still picture the youthful faces of his buddies before they headed off to war in the late 1960s. And now, decades later, that memory is coupled with images of their names etched into the wall—Army Warrant Officer George Hayward and Marines Robert Fatica, James Menart, Bill Dickey, and Tim Stickle.
Walker, like many other veterans, used a pencil to make a rubbing of each treasured name onto a strip of paper. Those became cherished mementos.
Visiting the Vietnam Memorial “is not something I ever thought I would do,” he said, “and I’m glad I got to do it.”
The Vietnam Memorial was the seventh and final stop that Walker and fellow veterans made during an early April visit to Washington with Honor Flight Tri-State.
The group’s latest flight—its 91st—carried special significance for Walker and 70 other honorees because it preceded a historic date: the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War’s end.
On April 30, 1975, North Vietnamese communist forces captured the South Vietnamese capital, Saigon. As a result, the north and south of the Southeast Asian nation were reunified under communist control, as they remain today. That outcome dealt a huge blow to the United States, which had backed anti-communist forces in Vietnam since the 1950s and sent combat troops there from 1965 to 1973.
Vietnam Vets’ Special Challenges
When American servicemembers returned from this unpopular war without a “win,” they received no heroes’ welcome. Nearly 3 million Americans fought in that war. And to this day, many people—including Walker—remain conflicted over U.S. involvement in Vietnam.“I am a patriot; I am glad I was in the military, even though I did not agree with that war,” said Walker, who was drafted for military service.
Popp, who has headed the Cincinnati-based group for 20 years with her husband, Tom, acknowledged that those who served during the Vietnam era faced challenges that set them apart from many other U.S. servicemembers.
Noting the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War’s conclusion, the Popps made pre-flight remarks at the Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky International Airport. Cheryl Popp encouraged people to dismiss politics surrounding the Vietnam War. Instead, she urged people to emphasize the sacrifices of those who served and their “loved ones that did their best to understand a war that was so hard for anyone to talk about.”
One honor flight veteran wore a green camouflage jacket with a map of Vietnam on his back, labeled “The Land That God Forgot” and encircled by the embroidered words: “I’m sure to go to Heaven because I’ve served my time in Hell, 1970–71.”
All U.S. servicemembers are deserving of gratitude, Popp said, whether they served in wartime or peacetime, stateside or overseas. All veterans aged 65 or older are eligible for honor flights. The veterans’ costs are covered by donations from sponsors, the public, and payments from his or her “guardian”—a family member, friend, or volunteer who accompanies each veteran to ensure their safety and comfort.
The Popps’ Cincinnati-based group has honored 7,500 veterans, and its latest journey brought together 85 men and one woman from Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky. Some were frail, using walkers and wheelchairs, while others were spry despite being in their 80s; the oldest participant was 92.
“We hope the memorials you see today will heal your wounds left by your service, and we will say ’thank you' from a grateful nation,” Cheryl Popp told the veterans before the April 8 flight. “You are the very best of us, and you have led by your example. You are the ones that make the words of the [National] Anthem a reality—with rockets’ red glare and bombs bursting in air. ... Those of us who have never risked our lives for our country can only imagine what it’s like to be you. When we look into your eyes, we can see what you have endured, and we hope to make a difference in that life today.”
That mission was accomplished, according to Walker, an Army veteran whose father also served in that same branch of the military.
Seeing his schoolmates’ familiar names etched into the memorial wall, mingled with thousands of strangers’ names, overwhelmed him.
Emotional Journey
Walker, who came close to being sent to Vietnam, saw no combat because he was sent to Germany as a medic at the last minute.“I can’t believe how lucky I am,” he said, lamenting his friends’ demise—a fate he said easily could have been his, too.
After his service ended in 1970, Walker went to Ohio’s Lake Erie College, courtesy of federal funding for veterans. He earned a degree in chemistry and biology, leading to a successful career. He got married and had four children, including son Gregory of Illinois, who accompanied him on the honor flight.
“I enjoyed what our freedoms gave us,” Walker said.
So do the Popps. Neither served in the military, although family members did. For more than an hour at the Vietnam Memorial, Tom Popp would reach out and touch random names on the wall. He would recite them aloud—speaking that servicemember back into existence for one moment.
When an observer asked whether these memorialized servicemembers were his friends, he responded, “They are all my friends.”
Duane Froelicher, a guardian on the April visit, said he would never forget a previous trip when a veteran opened up—apparently for the first time in more than 50 years—about his Vietnam War experience.
During a 2019 visit to the Vietnam Memorial, a veteran who served in heavy combat during 1965 and 1966 found his buddies’ names on the wall. For a long time, he tapped those names in silence.
“And he finally told the story of the battle and how each one of the guys were shot and he watched them die. ... He was the only survivor of that ambush,” Froelicher told The Epoch Times.
The veteran said he took a bullet to his elbow, which saved his life.
“He said, ‘My name should be here,’” between two of the other names, Froelicher said.
The son of an Air Force veteran, Froelicher said that story walloped him.
“To this day, I still wonder, ‘How do you hold on to that story for so long? So what does that do to you?’ It just gave me such appreciation for our veterans,” he said.
Throughout the day, the honorees traded stories of their time in the service, made new friends, and created memories with their travel companions.
Aboard the chartered American Airlines flight headed for Washington, Army Cpl. Grover Howard, 86, smiled broadly as he told The Epoch Times that he was thrilled to spend the day with his daughter, Stephanie Mahal, 45, who traveled from Minneapolis to join her Cincinnati-area dad.
Mahal said she arranged the honor flight for her father, who served during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, because “it’s hard to find a gift for someone who never wants anything.”
Howard said, “No matter what happens today, I'll be happy because I get to spend the day with her; she’s always been ‘daddy’s girl.’”
The trip began and ended with crowds gathering to cheer and applaud for the veterans while shouting, “Thank you for your service!”
At the National World War II Memorial, hundreds of onlookers lined the main sidewalk, greeting the group with accolades. Veterans and spectators alike wept.
Spectator Tammy Cloud of Texas, 66, said she just happened to be there when she noticed the veterans group arriving. Tears streamed down her face as she thanked each vet. Then Cloud paused to tell The Epoch Times why she was so emotional. She knows a lot about military history; she and her husband have watched countless TV programs with veterans describing their ordeals.
“They’re survivors, but they had to bring all that home,” Cloud said. “Our country would be nothing without these men—and women. So it’s just special to me.”
Walker said such a show of appreciation contrasts with how he and others were received as they traveled during the Vietnam War era. He remembers soldiers being advised to travel in plain clothes, not uniforms, to avoid being targeted by opponents of the war.
“Things were thrown at us,” he said. “And you could see it in their faces that they didn’t appreciate you ... we were ‘booed’ at the San Antonio airport.”
But throughout the honor flight trip, “I felt a lot of thankfulness, because they finally are saying ‘thank you’ to the Vietnam veterans,” Walker said. “It’s about time.”
All Personnel Deserve Thanks
Walker said those who served in combat, were wounded, or were killed are more praiseworthy than he is, because he didn’t have to fight in the war.But Heidi Weidamann, 62, of Cincinnati, said those in non-combat roles need to be reminded: “You were part of the machine that made this country great.”
A physical therapist, Weidamann told The Epoch Times that she volunteered for the trip to achieve a dream for one of her patients.
Weidamann accompanied Danielle Hahn, 71, who lives in a Cincinnati-area health care facility. She suffers from ALS, or Lou Gherig’s disease, which is debilitating.
Hahn, who worked as an Air Force dental assistant from 1979–1999, was overcome and emotional for much of the day.
“She thanked me a million times,” Weidamann said, “but it was my honor to be with her. ... This is probably her last trip, in her life.”
Hahn’s condition has deteriorated significantly within the past year; she now must use a wheelchair.
The group’s first stop was the U.S. Air Force Memorial, which was fortunate for Hahn, because that honored her branch of the military, and she had the energy to appreciate it before the day wore on, according to Weidamann.
Through tears, Hahn told The Epoch Times, “It meant a lot to me.”
The Korean War Veterans Memorial also held extra meaning for Hahn, Weidamann said, because her father was Korean and served in the U.S. Army in the Korean War.
“We went through a lot of tissues that day, and I said, ‘Don’t worry; I’ve got a whole bagful,’” Weidamann said.
She thinks many people are still unaware of the Honor Flight program, although there is a waiting list for both veterans and volunteer guardians. Many are “waiting in the wings to be assigned to someone we don’t even know,” she said, noting that each guardian paid $700 to cover the trip.
Some non-combat veterans, such as Hahn, have hesitated to sign up for an honor flight because they believe that they are “not worthy,” Weidamann said. To them, she would say the same thing she told Hahn: “You helped keep our guys and gals able to do the job they needed to do.”
Either experience is moving and meaningful for the veterans, Cheryl Popp said, although the in-person trip is undoubtedly more impactful. Some veterans take a while to process how meaningful the event was, and they’re invariably overwhelmed by the throngs that show up at the Cincinnati airport to welcome them home, she said. Officials estimated that 2,000 people showed up wearing patriotic attire, waving American flags, and holding signs to greet the most recent group of honorees. It was an exhilarating conclusion to a day that began 16 hours earlier at the same site.
Just before the homeward-bound leg of their journey, Cincinnati-area resident Renee Gautier, who came with her dad, Vietnam veteran Donald Gautier, said, “I’ll never ever forget this day, that’s for sure. ... It was one of the best days of my life; I was with my dad.”
