Army veteran Gloria Rodriguez (far left) was among the many men and women who recently were selected to participate in the Honor Flight to our nation capital. They all were welcomed back home by a huge crowd.
As a female who enlisted in the Army at the age of 20, Gloria Rodriguez said she had the added struggle of trying to prove her worth in a male-dominated institution. She enlisted in 1975, the year the Vietnam War ended.
For many of these veterans, it was an opportunity for them to get that hero’s welcome that they never received with a hug, kiss and a handshake.
BY JOE ARCE AND COREY CRABLE
Gloria Maria Rodriguez finally received the hero’s welcome for which she and her fellow veterans had waited for so many years.
Last week, Rodriguez’s Honor Flight landed at KCI, having taken a group of selected veterans to Washington, DC, to pay their respects to their fallen brothers and sisters, and to visit local sites and attractions. Their busy schedule included stops at Arlington National Cemetery the World War II, Vietnam, Lincoln, and Iwo Jima memorials and the Air Force and 9/11 memorials.
Most of the attendees on last week’s Honor Flight were veterans of the Vietnam War – the war that saw American soldiers return home to the widespread anti-war sentiment of the 1960s and early 1970s -- American servicemen and women found themselves being yelled at and spat upon. But, Rodriguez and her fellow travelers were welcomed by loved ones and total strangers who offered hugs and words of thanks as a band played in celebration of their return to the City of Fountains.
As a female who enlisted in the Army at the age of 20, Rodriguez said she had the added struggle of trying to prove her worth in a male-dominated institution. She enlisted in 1975, the year the Vietnam War ended.
“It’s something I had thought about before, and I wanted to travel a little bit and do something different,” Rodriguez said. “I just wanted to do something different.”
She was hoping for a country like Japan or Korea, but the powers that be had other plans.
“They said, ‘No, no, no we’re not sending women there.’ All they offered me was Fort Riley or Fort Leavenworth, and I said, ‘Well then I might as well just stay home,’” she recalled, “but then they offered Fort Lewis, Washington.”
She would go on to serve in the Army for three years and the National Guard for another eight. All of those years, Rodriguez said, she and other women were forced to endure harassment from some male officers.
“We were sexually harassed, we were constantly being put down. I did go through that,” Rodriguez said. “There was a lot of sexual harassment in the National Guard, too.”
Through it all, despite some bumps in the road, Rodriguez said, she was proud of her service, and even found a mentor along the way.
“I’ve always been proud of my service. I know that when I served, I served well and I took a lot of pride in what I did and how I did it. I know that I was respected by my fellow service members and some other officers. The whole time that I was at Fort Lewis, I worked at 9th Division Headquarters,” Rodriguez said. “And that was a job that I got because there was a Chicano Sergeant Major who talked to me, and he took me from one job and put me into the 9th Infantry Division Headquarters, which was great. It was kind of prestigious. And I was proud of what I did. And so when I went into the National Guard, it was the same thing. I was proud of what I did. And the military was a good thing.”
Rodriguez, who grew up in the Argentine neighborhood, said that before her military service, she would have been one of the people protesting the war. Now, able to reflect on her years of service, Rodriguez was able to bring her son along on the Honor Flight.
She honored those who made the ultimate sacrifice, too, as she visited the Vietnam War Memorial.
“On the wall, there, there are two people there that I knew who they were. I did go to the wall and I left something for one of them. I left a note and then one of my pins,” Rodriguez said. “I felt bad, because I thought about their families after they passed and how sad they were. It was emotional because of that, because I knew those two people.”
The emotions that the Honor Flight trip triggered in Rodriguez were rivaled by the warm emotions she experienced when she and her son returned home.
“I didn’t think it was going to be like that. It was overwhelming, and people were just wanting to shake hands, and then I had my co-workers there, too,” Rodriguez said. “They were there to greet us and they had signs, and it was great. I saw other folks there who just wanted to come up and say, ‘thank you.’”
Her son, Reyes Leon Guerrero, called the experience “humbling.”
“It was a way for me to experience her in that kind of environment with other vets, which I haven’t experienced in a while. And it was nice, seeing her get that recognition because I don’t see very often. But I could see in her eyes how much joy it brought her,” Guerrero said.
He added that as a female veteran, his mother has had unique experiences – and that often, when seen together, many people would assume that he was the one in the military, not her.
“I think (it was interesting), seeing her with other veterans. … (Growing up), I never really liked it if we ever went to something. People would assume I was the veteran, and she wouldn’t be acknowledged as the veteran,” Guerrero explained. “It kind of hurt and it would upset me sometimes, but I think just seeing her amongst the others (on the Honor Flight), there was never any question that she was there.”
Like his mother, Guerrero praised the organizers of the Honor Flight, especially their efforts in putting the homecoming greeting together.
“It was pretty powerful. And it was heartwarming to see,” Guerrero said. “It was breathtaking in the sense that there were so many groups, even down to the marching bands. … It was a recognition that she deserves, as well as all the others who served. … For her, it was a beautiful moment to see that.”
Kathy Irvine, part of the flight operations group with Honor Flight, said that since Vietnam veterans make up the majority of people who take the trip, it’s important that they see that today, their service is appreciated.
“I want (Rodriguez) to get off the plane and realize that we do appreciate our veterans and appreciate their service,” Irvine said before the plane landed. “Regardless of what happened when they came home the first time, that’s not today. … We hope they return with a feeling that that we do appreciate them, that we do appreciate everything they’ve done. They’re keeping our country free.”
Nickolas Jones with the Combat Vets Motorcycle Association said his organization had two members who went on this year’s flight, and that a joyous homecoming is something that all Vietnam veterans should receive.
“For some of them, they didn’t get a welcome home the first time,” he said. “So this is a good way to show them that we do care about them.”
And Etta Wildberder, whose husband went on the flight, said the warm welcome is the least that can be done for them.
“It is very emotional,” Wildberder said. “More people should honor (veterans). That’s what I think.”
Rodriguez said she’s received that message loud and clear.
“I’ve kind of got a little glow going on deep down inside,” Rodriguez said. “It was just so wonderful. It’s just really touched my heart.”
