WASHINGTON, D.C. (WZMQ) – During the Upper Peninsula Honor Flight’s visit to Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, the veterans visited the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
Veterans searched for fellow service members and loved ones whose names are etched in the wall. Among them was Army veteran Ronald Wilinski of Iron Mountain.
“I’m sitting in Fort Dix, New Jersey cleaning latrines,” Wilinski said. “A general came in and said, ‘You’ve been here for two weeks now. What gives?’ I says, ‘Well I don’t know; I don’t have any orders.'”
Wilinski was then sent to Germany as a truck driver.
“They said, ‘We don’t know why you’re here, because you should be in Vietnam,'” he said.
Shortly after, the 107 Transportation Brigade Headquarters needed a typist.
“Luckily, I got the job,” said Wilinski. “The other ones went to Vietnam. The good Lord must have been looking out for me because they had my name spelled wrong three times.”
Wilinski returned home in 1967, unaware of the reception awaiting him.
“Went to the bowling alley, my uniform on,” he said. “The guy behind, I knew him. He was a draft dodger. He said, ‘You know, you caused a war. We don’t serve you.’ I said, ‘All I want is a drink.’ Next thing I knew, he spit on me.”
During the Honor Flight’s stop at the memorial, Wilinski and other vets had the names of Vietnam veterans who died in the war rubbed onto pieces of paper.
“There are a couple I did that passed on from my school area that I really felt bad about,” he said.
For Wilinski, Upper Peninsula Honor Flight Mission XXII was a healing experience, providing some closure at the wall and showing there are those who truly appreciate the sacrifice of Vietnam-era veterans.
“It’s unbelievable,” he said. “It makes me feel good again about recognition—not that you want it—but you know… It’s a different perspective. It’s like everything is wiped clean that bothered you all these years.”
Click here for WZMQ 19’s full story on Upper Peninsula Honor Flight Mission XXII’s one-day trip to the nation’s capital.
