On October 5, 66 veterans will head to the nation’s capitol for Honor Flight Kentucky’s latest mission.
The flight takes WWII, Korean War, and Vietnam War veterans to Washington D.C. to visit the memorials dedicated to their service.
One of those veterans, Charles Thomas, has been selected to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier along with three other veterans.
Thomas graduated in the ROTC from the University of Kentucky with a degree in engineering.
It was at Fort Sill, Oklahoma in officers basic training for artillery when Thomas got his orders.
“I was given my assignment when I graduated, and I asked someone, ‘What does this mean?’ and they said, ‘Oh, you’re going to Vietnam,’” recalled Thomas.
Thomas hit Vietnam soil in October of 1969, assigned to an artillery battalion, and later becoming a forward observer for an infantry company.
“And that meant I was just like any other guy in the infantry,” said Thomas.
Far from home and practically fresh off UK’s campus, Thomas remembers the fear.