In Trips to DC Memorials, Air Force Vietnam Vets Reflect on War

Air Force veteran Doug Johnson deployed to Vietnam in 1971, serving just shy of 18 months as a C-130 loadmaster out of Phan Rang Air Base, 200 miles northeast of Saigon. In early May, Johnson walked the stone path to Washington, D.C.’s iconic Vietnam Veterans Memorial, overwhelmed by the massive black granite panels bearing the names of more than 58,000 Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, and Airmen who died in the war.

In time, he found panel 38W, line 40: U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Randall Keith Nauertz.

Now 73, Johnson recalled Nauertz, a machine-gunner who was severely wounded in Quang Tri Province on Nov. 22, 1968, and died 10 days later. “I knew him very well,” Johnson said. “I stood there and I cried … and I saluted him.”

Walking the wall was an emotional experience. “It blew me away,” Johnson said, his voice trembling with sadness. “I felt in my heart that I wanted to give each one of them a salute. So I stood back and I saluted them all and gave my final farewell to them. It was tough.”

Johnson and 15 other Vietnam War-era veterans from Wyoming took part in a four-day “Voyage of Valor,” an all-expenses-paid trip made possible by Wish of a Lifetime and AARP. Their May 5-9 trip coincided with the 50th Anniversary of the Fall of Saigon, the final chapter of the Vietnam War.

“Our organization believes that every veteran should be honored for their service and their sacrifice, and deserve that opportunity to visit the monuments and memorials” in Washington, D.C., said Wish of a Lifetime’s Caitlin Shepherd. The nonprofit organization has conducted these trips for the past 15 years.

Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Bob Baldwin, of Wasco County, Ore., made a similar Wish of a Lifetime trip, dubbed “Journey of Heroes,” just a week prior. His travelmates included veterans from the World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War eras.

Baldwin, 74, enlisted in the Air Force in 1969 and deployed to Vietnam’s Tan Son Nhut Air Base near Saigon as an avionics specialist, maintaining cameras, radar and infrared systems for RF-101C Voodoo reconnaissance aircraft.

“I’m mighty glad I’m not on that wall,” Baldwin said. He was most moved on this trip by a visit to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington Cemetery and the Changing of the Guard.

Johnson and Baldwin have never met, but share similar memories of rocket attacks and running for cover.

“One night we took well over 300 mortars and rockets,” Johnson said. “They were walking them in through the hootch area.”

Baldwin said his base lacked bunkers.

“Our response was to put our flak jackets and helmet on and get under the bed,” he said.

After completing his tour, Baldwin stayed in the Air Force, became an officer and served as a navigator on B-52 Stratofortress bombers until the early 1980s, when he transferred to flying missions on KC-135 Stratotankers. He served through the Gulf War and retired in 1994. He now lives in the Oregon Veterans’ Home.

Visiting the nation’s capital was “wonderful,” he said. “They treated me like a king.”

Johnson left the Air Force after one tour made a career as an engineer with the Chicago & North Western Railway. He has since helped fellow veterans volunteering with the Wyoming American Legion. Visiting the wall was a long-overdue excursion.

“It was something that I have probably been carrying around” for more than 50 years, Johnson said. “It set me back a little bit, but it relieved a lot of tension also. . . . I only knew Randy on that wall, but I feel like they’re all my brothers and sisters.”