VA Military Memories Competition

TSgt Daniel L. Daugherty, U.S. Air Force (1978-2006)

What Was Your Favorite Memory of Returning Home After a Long or Temporary Deployment? What Made This So Special?:

By Daniel L. Daugherty Jr., U.S. Veteran. The flight home felt longer than the deployment. I remember staring out the window, watching the billowy clouds slide beneath us, knowing that on the other side of the ocean, my family was waiting. My heart beat with a strange mixture of relief, exhaustion, and anticipation. When we landed, the aircraft doors opened, and the first breath of home soil hit me. It wasn t just air it carried the scent of grass, rain, and freedom. After months of dust, sweat, and constant tension, that first breath was like a prayer answered.

Cpl David Mulldune, U.S. Marines (1967-1969)

VA Military Memories Competition

What Was Your Favorite Memory of Returning Home After a Long or Temporary Deployment? What Made This So Special?:

It was May 1969 in Vietnam, after nearly 13 months as a combat Marine, when I was pulled back to battalion headquarters on Hill 55 to rotate back to the World. On my way from the mess hall, the clerk I always pestered about my flight yelled, Corporal Mulldune, how soon can you get your shit together? I got a flight for tomorrow if you can make it to Danang. Watch my blur. I can make it! I was sky high. So many times in the bush I d watch freedom birds heading home and wish it was me. Now it was. I checked in my weapon, dumped my gear in a pile for the pogues, and said a few half-hearted goodbyes nothing like leaving my guys on Hill 10.

ET2 David B. Binder, U.S. Navy (1963 – 1967)

VA Military Memories Competition

What Was Your Favorite Memory of Returning Home After a Long or Temporary Deployment? What Made This So Special?:

My four years in the navy included two tours of duty on the USS Hissem, DER 400 (destroyer escort) in Vietnam on Operation Market Time, which was the blockade of the entire 1,200-mile coastline of South Vietnam. We searched watercraft for arms, ammunition, and supplies that were being smuggled to the enemy; and did close in gunfire support with our three-inch guns and .50 caliber machine guns. My job was to hold the boat crews at gun point while the rest of the team searched and I also was a .50 caliber machine gunner while on patrol. I earned the Navy and Marine Corps Combat Action Ribbon.

SGM Manuel R. Beck, U.S. Army (1960-2003)

VA Military Memories Competition

What Was Your Favorite Memory of Returning Home After a Long or Temporary Deployment? What Made This So Special?:

We landed in Oakland, California, after a twenty-four-hour flight from Vietnam with one stop in Japan. The Army transported us to Fort Ord, where personnel records were taken from us, and we were directed to a large building for a uniform fitting. After that, men being discharged from the Army went to one building, while those going to further assignments went to another building. After completing all the paperwork and getting my discharge orders. I was sent back to get my Class A uniform. The Army can be very efficient. They took my military records to retrieve my awards and decorations and affixed my award ribbons to my new dress uniform.

1LT Steve C. Bailey, U.S. Army (1968-1971)

VA Military Memories Competition

What Was Your Favorite Memory of Returning Home After a Long or Temporary Deployment? What Made This So Special?:

The Freedom Bird was only an hour from landing on American soil. My mind raced from scenes of death and the sounds of helicopters to visuals of life and sounds of crowds cheering at a Yankees game. I was returning from a one-year tour as an Army infantry soldier in Vietnam. My next flight was a domestic flight to my parent’s home in Connecticut. I was 24-years-old and single. I visualized my seat assignment. In my mind, I was seated between two college coeds for the 3,000-mile flight home. With excited anticipation, I boarded and looked for the imaginary coeds. Instead, in my aisle were two nuns. I concealed my disappointment. One of them asked me what I missed most while I was in Vietnam. My response wasn’t profound; besides my family and friends, I missed taking showers with lots of soap and hot water and waking in the morning to the smell of bacon and brewed coffee and eating a leisurely breakfast of pancakes lathered in butter and maple syrup. Simple things. Maybe there had been divine intervention; it was an unexpected encounter. They were two strangers who helped me transition to civilian life. The nuns were wonderful seatmates–nonjudgmental and excluding love and compassion. Special things are sometimes spontaneous and happen when you least expect them.

SFC Soneniranh Johnson, U.S. Army (2006-Present)

VA Military Memories Competition

What Was Your Favorite Memory of Returning Home After a Long or Temporary Deployment? What Made This So Special?:

One of my favorite memories of returning home after a long deployment was the moment I marched into the gymnasium and saw the faces of my loved ones, friends, and the Rear Detachment all clapping and cheering for us. It was such a proud and emotional moment that I had to hold back my tears. After being away for 15 months in Iraq on my first deployment, the feeling of finally stepping back into a safe and familiar place was overwhelming.