JUPITER — Robert Miller vowed to never visit the Korean War and Vietnam Veterans memorials in Washington, D.C., fearing it would spark too many painful memories.
The veteran of both wars, now 93, triumphed over those anxieties Sept. 21.
Miller and about 70 other veterans took an Honor Flight to visit both memorials and others near the National Mall.
The Jupiter resident remembered his fellow soldiers when he looked into the faces etched upon the Korea memorial. The Vietnam memorial moved him so deeply that he couldn’t bring himself to touch its wall of names. He’d been to Arlington National Cemetery before, but its number of graves shocked him.
Luxury townhome plan in Tequesta: Nearly 100 luxury townhomes proposed on last open multifamily lot
And all day, to his pleasant surprise, people thanked him for his service. The warm welcome was the opposite of the one many veterans received when they came home from Vietnam in the 1970s.
“I couldn’t have asked for anything better,” Miller said. “I was treated like I was really something, higher than I am. The whole trip was stirring.”