NICHOLASVILLE, Ky. (LEX 18) — 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.
“The feelings were a little bit terrifying because there were 55,000 guys that went over to Vietnam that didn't make it back.”
The death toll was a reality his parents watched play out on the news every night.
“It was very hard on my mom because they watched the news every night, and at that time local NBC would come on with David Brinkley and Chet Huntley, and the first thing they would say was how many soldiers were lost in Vietnam that day,” said Thomas. “When I went over, I think my mom held me closely in her prayers, and I think my dad did too, and they just hoped I would make it back in one piece.”
Thomas served in Vietnam for a year. He remembers flying into Oakland, California, a sigh of relief for the familiarity, but also an unexpected strangeness of American soil.
“I guess it was a challenge to learn to live Western style again because I had been sleeping on the ground for almost a year.”
When LEX 18 caught up with Thomas again before the Honor Flight, he shared more about what it was really like to serve his country.
“Because I was with the company commanders group, I was on the first helicopter to land and the last one to be picked up.”
He remembers the heat in Cambodia and the basic necessities he had to ration.
“I had to survive on one quart of water per day, and that was all you got.”
The realities turned memories still give him perspective all these years later.
“It was a very enlightening time, and you got so much appreciation for this country because we have a special thing, and unfortunately, sometimes we lose sight of what we have,” said Thomas.
After he returned home, Thomas went back to school to study dentistry. He worked in private practice before moving to the restorative department at the University of Kentucky.
