WASHINGTON, D.C. — As dozens of World War II, Korea, and Vietnam veterans visit the nation's capital on Honor Flight 20, a large goal of the trip is to help these heroes open up about the trauma and guilt they may still carry.
A big step toward that goal happens when veterans see the war memorials built in their honor in Washington, D.C.
On Friday, more than 50 veterans visited the Air Force Memorial, Navy Memorial, US Marine Corps War Memorial, World War II Memorial, Korean War Veterans Memorial, and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Many veterans searched and found the names of lost friends and loved ones etched into the black granite of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall.
Walter Taylor, a Vietnam veteran, found the name of his best friend in the Marines whom he met right after boot camp.
"I was 20 at the time. He was only 18," said Taylor. "We were on a convoy together. We got ambushed, and there's bombs exploding, bullets, all that. And we were taking fire... Thomas jumped up and ran out there. He just ran out there to provide them cover."
Taylor said the memory of his friend felt very heavy for a long time.
“It did for many years because I blamed myself. There's something I could have done. I could have saved his life, in actuality, there's nothing I could have done," said Taylor.
Richard Burgess, who served in the Air Force and Navy, said seeing the 58,000 names of American servicemembers who died in the war makes him disheartened and furious.
"I see all the rest of these young boys, men [on the wall]. And I think about the waste. It's just wasteful. The war didn't accomplish a thing for us," said Burgess. "There's so many lives given up and I have to ask myself why. I can't come up with an answer."
Jay Maloney, a Vietnam veteran who was an Army emergency medic, searched for several names he had written down on a notecard at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
"Most of us on this flight got to be older. You know, we got to lose our hair, we got to put on weight. They never did," said Maloney.
Maloney said when he left the service, he had to learn how to handle the grief, sadness, and moral injuries the war gave him.
"What happens when you come home from these things, you're going to have to come to grips with the fact that the things that were honorable there are dishonorable here," said Maloney. "It becomes, you know, some questions about who you really are, and at some point, the way to deal with that is you talk to other people who have had that experience."
Community members are asked to welcome home Honor Flight 20 on Saturday, May 10 at 5:30 p.m. at the Colorado Springs Christian School. The group of veterans is expected to arrive at 6 p.m.
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