MADE IT BACK HOME. THEY ARE VIETNAM WAR VETERANS RETURNING HOME FROM A TRIP. THAT WAS MORE THAN 50 YEARS IN THE MAKING I ALWAYS WANTED TO GO BACK AMONG THE GROUP CHARLIE MILLER AND THAT’S ME ON THE LEFT THERE. WE FIRST MET BACK IN 2020 WHEN HE WAS PACKING UP TO RETURN TO VIETNAM FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE HE FOUGHT IN THE WAR THE TRIP GOT POSTPONED BECAUSE OF THE PANDEMIC UNTIL NOW I KNEW IT WOULD BE CHANGED. YOU KNOW DIFFERENT IT WOULDN’T BE LIKE WHAT WE WERE OVER THERE CHARLIE SERVED IN THE US MARINES JUST LIKE HIS FATHER AND HIS BROTHER, SO I WAS ON HAIL 55 AND THAT’S WE WERE BEARING THIS STUFF. THAT I HAD HE WANTED TO PUT TO REST HIS MEMORIES IN THE PLACE WHERE HE FOUGHT WAS INJURED AND WHERE HIS BROTHER WAS KILLED. I HAD MY FRIEND WHICH WAS MY BROTHER’S BEST FRIEND COME ALONG AND I ASKED FOR HIM. HEY, YOU KNOW BILL, CAN YOU HELP ME BILL HELPED CHARLIE HONOR HIS BROTHER US MARINE LANCE CORPORAL JAMES MILLER WHO WAS KILLED IN NAM JUST DAYS BEFORE HIS 19TH BIRTHDAY. THAT’S WHERE WE BURIED HIS PHOTOS. AND THAT IN THAT CREVICE THERE PICTURES OF HIS BROTHER ENJOYING A GIFT FROM HOME A BOLOGNA SENT BY HIS MOM AND THOSE OF HIS SERVICE NOW IN ITS FINAL RESTING PLACE TRYING TO PICTURE JIM THERE. I MEAN I BROKE DOWN THEN MORE SO, YOU KNOW AT THAT TIME, YOU KNOW, I I FELT PEACE MORE THAN I EVER DID BEFORE. AND THAT LEG OF THEIR JOURNEY WAS OVER. FOR ME WHAT CHARLIE DIDN’T KNOW WAS THE SURPRISE WAITING FOR HIM BACK HOME. YOU’RE LOOKING OUT THE BUS AND YOU’RE LOOKING TO EVERYBODY WAVING FLAGS AND PEOPLE THERE NEVER EXPECTED THAT A COMMUNITY WANTED TO SHOW THEIR SUPPORT WITH THE WELCOME HOME CELEBRATION FITTING FOR OUR VETERAN. IT W
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‘It was the best thing I ever did’: Marine veteran returns to Vietnam for first time since war
Updated: 7:07 PM EDT Jul 25, 2022
Several veterans got a chance to go back to Vietnam for the first time since the war.The group included Charlie Miller, from central Pennsylvania, who made the trip to bury the past and honor a brother who didn’t make it home.”I always wanted to go back,” Miller said.Sister station WGAL first met Miller in 2020 when he was packing for the journey. The trip got postponed until recently because of the pandemic.”I knew it would be changed, you know, different. It wouldn’t be like what we were over there,” he said.Miller served in the U.S. Marines, just like his father and brother. He wanted to put his memories to rest in the place where he fought and was injured and where his brother was killed. “I had my friend – which was my brother’s best friend – come along, and I asked him, ‘Hey, Bill, can you help me?'” Miller said.Bill helped Miller honor his brother, U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. James Miller, who was killed in Vietnam just days before his 19th birthday.Miller buried photos in Vietnam, including pictures of his brother and his service.”Trying to picture Jim there, I mean, I broke down then more so, you know, at that time. I felt at peace more than I ever did before. That leg of the journey was over for me,” he said.What Miller didn’t know was the surprise waiting for him back home.”You’re looking out the bus and you’re looking at everybody waving flags and people there. Never expected that,” he said.The community wanted to show its support with a welcome home celebration for the veterans.”It was just amazing,” Miller said. He said his only wish was that his mother would have lived long enough to have seen him make the trip where he honored his brother.
Several veterans got a chance to go back to Vietnam for the first time since the war.
The group included Charlie Miller, from central Pennsylvania, who made the trip to bury the past and honor a brother who didn’t make it home.
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“I always wanted to go back,” Miller said.
Sister station WGAL first met Miller in 2020 when he was packing for the journey. The trip got postponed until recently because of the pandemic.
“I knew it would be changed, you know, different. It wouldn’t be like what we were over there,” he said.
Miller served in the U.S. Marines, just like his father and brother.
He wanted to put his memories to rest in the place where he fought and was injured and where his brother was killed.
“I had my friend – which was my brother’s best friend – come along, and I asked him, ‘Hey, Bill, can you help me?'” Miller said.
Bill helped Miller honor his brother, U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. James Miller, who was killed in Vietnam just days before his 19th birthday.
Miller buried photos in Vietnam, including pictures of his brother and his service.
“Trying to picture Jim there, I mean, I broke down then more so, you know, at that time. I felt at peace more than I ever did before. That leg of the journey was over for me,” he said.
What Miller didn’t know was the surprise waiting for him back home.
“You’re looking out [of] the bus and you’re looking at everybody waving flags and people there. Never expected that,” he said.
The community wanted to show its support with a welcome home celebration for the veterans.
“It was just amazing,” Miller said.
He said his only wish was that his mother would have lived long enough to have seen him make the trip where he honored his brother.
