‘I never thought I’d live to see it’: Veterans honored at WTRC’s Hospice of the Big Country thank you dinner

ABILENE, Texas ( KTAB/KRBC ) — Fellowship and reverence filled the West Texas Rehab’s Hospice of the Big Country boardroom Thursday evening. The organization opened its doors once more to local Veterans for its annual ‘We Honor Veterans’ thank-you dinner. Director of Hospice Services Angie Lane shared that this night is a way for WTRC to show just a modicum of thanks to the service men and women who have given so much of themselves.

“It was a spectacular night. There were so many Veterans here. We have a debt we will never pay to these folks. We just want to say thank you,” Lane said.

Veterans of every branch spanning the decades showed up to sit with each other and break bread. The evening started with the Dyess Honor Guard presenting the flag and the singing of the national anthem. Following that, a POW/MIA or “Missing Man table” was set as a tribute to those who never returned. The attendees were then served dinner, and lively conversations filled the room.

“My favorite part about this night is watching the Veterans come together and laugh and remember,” Lane said.

At one table, KTAB/KRBC met with U.S. Army Reserve Veteran Charlie Bowen. He expressed his gratitude toward the hosts and remarked on the importance of remembering those in the reserves, as well as the employers who hire them and enable them to be deployed without worrying about their jobs back home.

“It’s great to get to see where everybody came from and where they served… When it comes to crunch time, we’re all one big family,” Bowen said.

At that same table was Bowen’s dinner guest and newfound acquaintance, John Penns. Penns is a Veteran of the Vietnam War, having served in the country from 1967 through 1969. During that time, he served as a Platoon Sergeant and witnessed one of the largest and bloodiest campaigns of the war, the TET offensive.

“I got wounded at Ho Chi Minh trail. That’s why I got the purple heart… I always say I went there as a young boy, but I came back as a man,” Penns told KTAB/KRBC.

Before his service, Penns said the colleges that would take him were full up, and he, like many people he knew, was not welcome at the whites-only schools during segregation. This and the ongoing draft left him with few, if any, choices as to his future.

“So me and a group of guys went to the recruiter and said, well, we’ll just go ahead and volunteer. And he said no, we already had y’all names. Y’all did the right thing,” said Penns.

After all he experienced, Penns recalls a somber return back to the States. He spoke of coming home as a time they had all longed for but one he now remembers as bittersweet.

“I seen my brothers on their knees kissing the ground because you know we made it. But no one greeted us; they really acted like they hated us,” Penns said.

Nights like this one and the expressions of gratitude that he and his fellow Veterans receive from others mean a lot to Penns. He mentioned that on several occasions, he had been informed that his dinner bill was taken care of, although the kind soul who paid for it never revealed their identity.

“I didn’t think I’d live to see it like it is now, but I did,” said Penns.

His presence, along with so many others, was a welcome sight for the West Texas Rehab and Hospice staff. The organization holds a dinner every year that is open to all Veterans. Penns said he hopes to attend next year, and Lane added that she hopes to see him there as well.

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