'Little Piece of Healing': Vietnam Vets Honored in D.C.

POWDER SPRINGS — When retired U.S. Marine Sgt. Rodney Walker returned from Vietnam in 1969, he was discouraged from donning his uniform.

"When I came back from Vietnam I was actually instructed not to wear my uniform when I got to the states … because you might get harassed otherwise ... Everybody saw us as part of the problem," Walker said. "… I saw it as an honor to be able to (serve)."

He and his wife of 53 years, retired U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Ruth Walker, both served in the Vietnam era. He joined in 1968 and was discharged in 1972. She enlisted in 1970 and discharged in 1971. For years, they said, the service of Vietnam veterans was overlooked, even disrespected.

But recently, the couple was given their long overdue recognition when they were two of 26 African Americans invited on the first ever Juneteenth Honor Flight, organized by the Honor Flight Network, a nonprofit that brings veterans to the memorials dedicated to them in Washington D.C.

'Welcome home'

The experience, Ruth Walker said, was a step toward softening deep wounds left for Vietnam era vets.

"It was a little piece of a beginning of healing, for past things that were done,” she said. "When we came back to Atlanta (from the trip) they said, ‘Welcome home, welcome home, welcome home.' (Veterans) did not get that upon their return (from Vietnam).”

Honor Flight Network board member John McCaskill said that healing is the primary goal of the organization. Before their plane even left for D.C., McCaskill said, the veterans were shown enough love and recognition to make the trip.

Their gate at the Hartsfield-Jackson Airport was decked out with red, white and blue balloons to honor their military service and red, black and green balloons in recognition of Juneteenth.

“As other people were going past, they saw what was going on and came over to greet the veterans. … They announced at the gate what was going on and everybody applauded,” McCaskill said. “As we’re taxiing up, I see airport workers waving flags … I’m telling you, these veterans were so elated to be celebrated in the way they were."

The Walkers said going on the trip was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, allowing them exclusive access to national monuments including the World War II Memorial, Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

“To witness the changing of the guards and actually walk out to that platform where they patrol 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Very few people ever get the chance to do that," Rodney Walker said.

McCaskill said the Juneteenth trip was particularly important because it paid honor to veterans whose service contributions have historically been ignored.

"We had to explain to them the importance of them being seen by the next generation ... If you don't see yourself in history, if you don't have a worthwhile tradition, you will be relegated to a place of manageability and then you will be on the verge of extinction. We aspire to that which we see," he said. "... What we want is other minority veterans to realize that they are just as much a part of the fabric of this nation as anyone else who has served."

Issues with the VA

The Walkers said though the trip was a first step in paying respect to the veterans who went years without recognition, the most important way to honor veterans would be strengthening services run by Veterans Affairs.

“It was a once-in-a-lifetime thing,” Rodney Walker said. “But on the flip side, I still think the VA left a bitter taste in the mouth of our veterans.”

Rodney Walker struggles to get care for his post-traumatic stress disorder, his hearing loss and lingering side effects from being exposed to Agent Orange, a toxic chemical used by the U.S. military during the Vietnam War, including hypertension and diabetes.

"You walked in that, you laid in that, slept in that," he said.

He said it's also a fight to have his sleep apnea recognized by the VA as service related, since he didn't seek treatment for it while he was still in the military.

"They say, ‘Well it’s not service related.’ Wait a minute. I slept on a hard, cold ground for almost a year in combat in all kinds of weather. I say ‘slept’ but I laid on the ground. You can’t sleep in combat," he said.

Still, Ruth Walker said, the trip left them feeling “blessed, humbled and thankful.”

Her husband agreed.

“It felt like it was finally recognition of what we had done,” he said.