LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – A recent trip to Washington D.C., as part of Honor Flight Southern Nevada, led several Vietnam veterans to face a difficult memorial.
For some it was the first time seeing the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, which contains the names of more than 58,000 Americans who made the ultimate sacrifice for the United States.
Eighty-four-year-old Kenneth Pavese, a Marine Corporal and Helicopter Crew Chief was serving stateside from 1960 to 1964. But a friend he met in the service, Benito Igarta Junior, was called to Vietnam, and died there.
Pavese found his friend’s name on the Vietnam Memorial, which was a difficult moment for him.
“Sad. He was a good man,” said Pavese.
He added, “He was a Crew Chief of a commander’s aircraft, of Helicopter Squadron 363. And he liked his job so well he waxed the airplane (helicopter.) The Commander’s aircraft was waxed.”
Benito Igarta Junior was a Marine and killed on March 21, 1966.
“When he went over to Nam, I guess a pilot took a bullet to the heart and the helicopter flipped upside down and went in.” said Pavese.
After finding his friend’s name, and shedding some tears, Pavese then walked away from the wall and was comforted by the Honor Flight Southern Nevada photographer.
Pavese later told FOX5 he was okay and called visiting the wall and other war memorials “very gratifying.” He called the entire trip “phenomenal.”
FOX5 will continue providing coverage on the Honor Flight Southern Nevada trip in the coming weeks.
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