Wyoming Vietnam Veterans found the atmosphere and attitudes of people much different during a recent Rocky Mountain Honor Flight than their initial welcome home more than 50 years ago.
“I came home on a flight into Los Angeles and they landed us outside of the main terminal on the landing field next to some of the hangars,” said Jerry Johnson, of Thermopolis, a U.S. Army veteran who served in Vietnam from 1971 - 1972. “And we were escorted from the plane on the field into the terminal and we were called every name in the book, spit on and everything else getting off of the plane.”
Johnson said he and 12 other Wyoming veterans were treated like heroes during an honor flight from Denver to Baltimore, Maryland, for a three-day excursion in Washington, D.C., at the memorial walls for World War II, Korean War, and Vietnam War veterans.
Pine Bluffs, Wyoming, Donald W. Eisenhauer American Legion Post 60 spokesperson Jennifer Sherman said the flight was the result of a collaboration between the post and Rocky Mountain Honor Flight.
“I reached out to Rocky Mountain Honor Flight and they welcomed us with open arms. Two veterans participated in April 2023 and from there it has just kind of grown,” she said.
A 23-year veteran of the U.S. Navy herself, Sherman a Wyoming native who now lives in Virginia, said her father is the commander of the Pine Bluffs American Legion Post. Her efforts to facilitate veterans for the honor flight are part of her “giving back to Wyoming and helping our veterans.”
The latest Rocky Mountain Honor Flight was the last of four for this year. To qualify, veterans needed to fill out an application on the group’s website. Sherman said she helped Wyoming veterans fill out the applications as well as helped answer questions or concerns.
WWII, Korea, Vietnam Vets
The Rocky Mountain Honor Flight started in 2007 to honor World War II veterans and has since expanded to include those who served in the Korean and Vietnam wars.
Veterans from both Colorado and Wyoming were flown from Denver to Baltimore on Thursday, Oct. 3. They visited the memorial walls on Friday. On Saturday they went to Arlington National Cemetery before flying back to Denver.
Johnson, 74, called the trip a “great honor.” He first learned about it from fellow Thermopolis veteran Anthony Abstetar, who also went on the trip.
A lifetime member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Johnson said participants on the flight had a guardian assigned to them to help facilitate needs.
“What we saw in Washington, D.C., would actually bring tears to your eyes. All of our fellow brothers and sisters that died in Vietnam, we got to see most all of the walls, the World War II, the Korean and the Vietnam walls,” he said. “We got to go to Arlington and watch the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and that was just very, very moving.”
“Most people don’t understand the training it takes for those people to serve as an honor guard. And everything is done precisely,” Johnson said. “He makes 21 steps and he also turns around and waits 21 seconds and that is to pay tribute to the unknown solider because it is a 21-gun salute.”
Johnson said on the plane back, each member of the flight also took part in “mail call” that contained a packet of mail for each participant.
Sherman said she had contacted family members as well as the Wyoming governor’s office and U.S. congressional delegation for letters.
“I really appreciate all the effort,” Johnson said. “As well as the people in Denver and Baltimore who were cheering us.”
Left, Members of the Wyoming delegation of the Rocky Mountain Honor Flight pose in front of the state’s column at the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. Right, they're at the Marine Crops Memorial. (Courtesy Rocky Mountain Honor Flight) 
Wyoming veterans wait to board an aircraft as part of their Rocky Mountain Honor Flight. (Courtesy Rocky Mountain Honor Flight) 
Members of the Rocky Mountain Honor Flight help lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. (Courtesy Rocky Mountain Honor Flight) 
Members of the Rocky Mountain Honor Flight take part in the laying of a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. (Courtesy Rocky Mountain Honor Flight) 
Members of the Rocky Mountain Honor Flight took part in a POW/MIA ceremony as part of their trip. (Courtesy Rocky Mountain Honor Flight) 
Bruce Leikam of Cheyenne pays tribute at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. (Courtesy Rocky Mountain Honor Flight)
The Former Medic
Barry Matlack, 74, of Laramie served in Vietnam as a U.S. Army medic attached to an infantry platoon from August of 1970 to September 1971.
“It wasn’t like you see in the movies,” he said. “But we saw a few scrapes.”
Matlack said he had never heard about the honor flights until about three months ago but was told about it by a neighbor and fellow veteran, William Wolf, who also went on the flight.
While he had been to Washington, D.C., about 30 years ago, Matlack said all the memorials were not yet in place.
He was moved by the Arlington National Cemetery changing of the guard ceremony and by viewing the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the more than 58,000 names it contains.
“The highlight was definitely going to the wall,” he said. “I did some scratchings of some names of some departed friends.”
Matlack also appreciated the reception the group received in Baltimore as the group deplaned.
“We got a reception that was just 55 years late in coming, a lot of people cheering and clapping,” he said. “It choked me up a little bit.”
Matlack said his time as a medic gave him some direction in terms of career and he returned to college, got a degree, and had a career as a medical technologist, serving in hospital laboratories.
Pine Bluffs Couple
Patricia and Michael Reher of Pine Bluffs, Wyoming, both served in the Vietnam era, but not in that country. They met while in their respective service branches in San Diego.
Patricia, 76, a native of West Virginia and veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, said she served from 1969 to 1972 and was stationed overseas in Iwakuni, Japan with an administrative role in an office.
Michael, 76, a native of Pine Bluffs, was a dental technician for the U.S. Navy and also stationed in Iwakuni. Though subject to shipment to Vietnam, he never was.
Patricia Reher said they found out about the honor flight from Jennifer Sherman’s mother, who runs the auxiliary at the Pine Bluffs American Legion Post. Patricia said she had been unaware she could apply as a female veteran. She called the trip “sobering” and “informative.”
The Rehers had been to Washington, D.C., previously but had not see all the memorials.
“It was my first time to see the Marine Corps Memorial and also the Navy Memorial,” she said. Like others on the trip she said changing of the guard ceremony meant the most to her. She said some members of the team were able to help place a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
Following their service commitments, The Rehers returned to Wyoming where Michael Reher became a lineman for a power cooperative and then for an insurance company. Patricia Reher spent several years teaching first as a kindergartner teacher, and then a preschool teacher.
Patricia Reher said she appreciated the effort of the those who organized the trip.
“The board of directors for these honor flights, I was just amazed at how committed they are to helping the veterans,” Patricia Reher said. “And I think they are totally involved in trying to get more opportunities for veterans in the state of Wyoming.”
Others on the flight from Wyoming included Maron Davis of Laramie, Linville Vann of Cheyenne, Ruben Cortez of Laramie, Daniel Delorey of Cheyenne, Sigourd Johnson of Cheyenne, Bruce Leikam of Cheyenne, and Olen Henson of Laramie.
Sherman said there are opportunities for veterans who have served in the Vietnam era and earlier to join flights next year.
Dale Killingbeck can be reached at dale@cowboystatedaily.com.
