D.C. is filled with memorials, monuments and museums dedicated to the efforts of the men and women that served in the U.S. military. So it makes sense that so many active and former service members would choose to spend Veterans Day weekend in the nation’s capital.
Bill Wright and his family toured the Korean War Memorial with his family and talked to WTOP about his career in the Army.
“I spent 21 years, first 11, I thought my name was, ‘Hey You,'” said Wright. “I have four brothers in the military, two in the Air Force, two in the Army and one in the Navy.
Wright’s wife Elena, who is also an Army veteran, said that her two brothers served in the Army and the Marines too.
WTOP asked Wright how it felt to visit these military monuments and memorials on the National Mall.
“It instills pride and honor. You have a real appreciation for what military life is about and what soldiers and Marines, airmen, sailors, and what they do to keep you free.”
Wright’s nephew, Collin Younger, spent time in the Army after his father, a command sergeant major, was not impressed with his academic efforts.
“So … funny story, after the first semester, the sergeant major realized that I was majoring in cheerleaders and football,” said Younger. “So he pretty much cut the financial umbilical cord. Then I went in to serve. So I was in the Army for three years. I was a combat engineer, airborne paratrooper at Fort Bragg.”
Younger and his family had just come from visiting his father at Arlington National Cemetery. Collin Younger Sr. also spent time with the D.C. police, where he earned the rank of captain.
At the WWII Memorial, Midshipman Yuvinny Fuentes and a childhood friend took selfies. The Florida native was easy to spot in his service dress and had a big smile on their face as they looked about the Mall.
“We really stand on the shoulder of giants here,” Fuentes said. “To be part of the history that has created this great nation. It’s really inspiring.”
Not far in the distance, on the path from the WWII Memorial to The Lincoln Memorial, was a man in his seventies, walking slowly with the help of a cane, heading to the Vietnam Wall.
“When you get here on these Honor Flights, it’s very humbling,” Tim Haddock said. “I’m with a bunch of other heroes, in my eyes”
Haddock served in the Army from 1967 until 1971, and was 19 when he was sent to Vietnam.
“Kinda a long flight,” Haddock joked. He said he remembers what was going through his mind on the plane ride there: “I hope I get back alive, and I did, but a lot didn’t.”
As the man from Georgia looked around, WTOP asked him how it felt to be in the nation’s capital on Veterans Day weekend.
Haddock replied “It’s a good country, it’s worth fighting for.”
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