MILITARY ~ Honor, Duty, Country

[HoosierHoagie]

March 29 is National Vietnam Veterans Day
VA says Welcome Home and Thank You

/salute...thank you EZ and all the Vietnam Vets on this board

Of the approximately 8,744,000 servicemen and women who served during the Vietnam era, approximately 3.4 million were stationed in the Southeast Asia theater, including flight crews based in Thailand, along with aviators and sailors in the adjacent South China Sea.

In a nation where less than one percent of the population has worn the uniform, military service is now recognized and appreciated as the act of service it is.

A grateful nation says Welcome Home and Thank You for your service.

We would like you to meet just two of the many thousands of Vietnam Veterans. Click on the links to read their complete stories.

Fred Judkins II
Fred Judkins II

A Second Homecoming Saves A Life

One in a series of weekly articles highlighting and celebrating Vietnam Veterans in advance of Vietnam Veterans Day 2019

If it weren’t for the New England accent, you’d probably think Fred Judkins II was born in North Florida. It feels like he’s been here for years. If there is a meeting related to helping Veterans he’s there – like the monthly Flag breakfast meeting at Brown’s restaurant in Alachua, Florida.

If there is a focus group on initiatives to enhance the delivery of care to Veterans by the Malcom Randall VA Medical Center, Judkins is not only on it but recruiting additional members and contacting the director and key staff via email and social media whenever he has an idea that will help.

Vietnam

“One day I was scheduled to fly Cobra front seat but got pulled two hours before the mission because they needed a commissioned officer on the front line with the South Vietnamese for communications support,” Judkins recalled, “I heard over the radio that the pilots sent in my place were shot down in Laos. They were recovered, but that was just the nature of the war.”

Coming home was hard. Alcohol. Prison. Suicidal.

One day he heard banging on his door. His daughter Nicole and son Nathan had come to intervene. Nicole moved him home with her to Gainesville, Fla., the next morning.

“I was driving the other day and saw a Vietnam Veteran sticker on a car and beeped and they smiled and waved. I think it made both of us feel good. I have a Vespa 150 scooter. I was going down 39th Ave and I passed four Harleys,” Judkins said with a wink.

Tom Equels
Tom Equels

One in a series of weekly articles highlighting and celebrating Vietnam Veterans in advance of Vietnam Veterans Day 2019

A Renaissance Soldier Honors A Friend

Tom Equels is a busy guy. He serves as CEO of an immunology research and development company working hard toward finding a better way to treat solid tumor cancers.

He operates a 100-acre thoroughbred horse farm where he raises 17 of his own animals, including several newborns — and another 75 horses who board on his property.

And, when he’s not multitasking from those two, he oversees fundraisers for his local Catholic church, is a grandfather to three rambunctious boys and is an artist.

A rather accomplished artist in fact.



His oil paintings grace the walls of Our Lady of St. Teresa Catholic Church in Belleview, Florida, and numerous other public and church offices and places of worship as far away as the United Kingdom.

Vietnam

Equels graduated at the top of his flight training class and was given the choice to pick his type of helicopter and decided on Cobra gunships. He went to Vietnam in January of 1972 and was in-country through January 1973. He flew more than 300 missions. In the spring of 1972, he received word that his helicopter school classmate Wilson, along with his flight crew, went down in the aftermath of a North Vietnamese offensive that included five of their divisions. The flight crew was listed as missing until 2000.

Painting a tribute to a fallen friend

The painting above, “Lest We Forget,” is a beautiful tribute to a fallen friend whom Equels trained to fly with and served with during the same period in Vietnam. The 66-year-old artist and Purple Heart recipient thought it appropriate to share his work with former service members at The Villages VA Outpatient Clinic in Florida where he receives care.

The North Florida South Georgia Health Care System, like most VA medical centers across America is holding special ceremonies for National Vietnam Veterans Day.

https://www.blogs.va.gov/VAntage/58052/march-29-national-vietnam-veterans-day/