I graduated from high school in January 1967, was drafted into the Army in March 1967 and was sent to Vietnam in February 1968. I left the US as a boy and returned as an adult.

I was discharged in February 1969. I can still remember that day, running to the plane for that long journey home. In the blink of an eye I went from soldier with a gun to a civilian. I had no idea what was waiting for us back in the states. I guess I didn’t want to believe the protests were as bad as we’d heard. When we arrived in the states 3 days later, I was a civilian and still wasn’t even 21 years old.

When I got home the questions started. “Did you kill women and children? Did you? Did you?” It got to the point that I didn’t even tell anyone I had been in Vietnam.

It wasn’t until 1996, when I started going to the Vet Center that I was able to share my experience and feel proud of serving my country. In 1997, I was selected to participate in Operation Freedom Bird. I finally go a chance to tell my brothers and sisters that I did the best I could, something they must have known all along.

People say, “Snap out of it. It’s been 30 years”. But pictures have no dates.
Operation Freedom Bird provides an important service to vets still suffering memories that still haunt them. It gives vets the chance to put some of the memories to rest.
Thanks to the help of the Vet Center, those pictures aren’t a priority for me any longer. I was given the opportunity to visit the Wall in Washington, D.C. and finally say farewell to some of my buddies. I finally got my welcome home parade and a little bit of peace.

John Pelaccio

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