A.J. McCaskey and Dennis Williams thought they would never see Vietnam again.
But the two high school buddies who served in 1967 and 1968, and remained life long friends, are among a group of 53 Vietnam veterans from Wisconsin are heading to Vietnam with Old Glory Honor Flight, returning to the country where they fought.
Honor Flights sends veterans to Washington, D.C. to tour the memorials of the wars they fought in, hoping to heal through the comaraderie of other veterans of those same wars.
But this may be the first time an Honor Flight has taken veterans back to Vietnam.
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Dennis Williams is pictured in his Army uniform in the late 1960s.
“We’re anxious and excited to get there," Williams said.
McCaskey initially wasn’t interested in applying to go when Williams told him about the opportunity. But, after speaking with several people and doing some research, he changed his mind.
McCaskey served in Vietnam from 1968 to 1969, serving as a “grunt’ with the 9th Infantry Division.
“We were in the Mekong Delta,” he said. “We worked with the Navy. Our missions were search and destroy missions. It was basically a cat and mouse game.”
Williams served in Vietnam from 1967 to 1968 as a harbor craft crewman with the 497th Engineer Company.
“We did put in temporary bridges and jetties,” he said. “We also had a dive team attached to our company.”
Williams said that while many Vietnam veterans experienced tremendous backlash from the public when they returned home, he and McCaskey did not.
"We were more fortunate in the small, country towns," he said. "People were glad to have us back. it was simple: If your country called you, you did what your country called you to do."
The two grandfathers are hoping the trip will bring each of them closure and reconciliation. The friends recalled the sights and sounds of battles they’d fought in while serving in Vietnam and the destruction that wreaked havoc on a country and their people, who they each called “beautiful.”
A.J. McCaskey today
“It will feel good to see how the country, the people, the culture have healed,” said McCaskey. “It’s a beautiful country with beautiful people.”
“It’s going to be something to see, how the country and people have recovered,” agreed Williams. "We never thought we’d be going back. It's going to be an honor to represent the 58,000 (American service members who were killed in Vietnam) who didn't come back."
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Old Glory Honor Flight Treasurer Diane MacDonald said the seed for the trip was actually planted back in 2012, when the group took 18 Wisconsin Pearl Harbor veterans back to Hawaii for a five-day trip. She said they believe this is the first Honor Flight trip from the United States to journey back to Vietnam. Among the criteria to be selected: the veteran had to be in good physical health since wheelchair ramps and other accommodations are not available at many sites in Vietnam.
Over 500 Vietnam veterans from Wisconsin applied for the trip. McCaskey and Williams said they never dreamed they would be among those chosen to make the journey.
The Appleton-based group held a series of fundraisers in order to pickup the $250,000 tab for the two-week trip which began Feb. 24.
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