Adorned with roses, ribbon and an American flag, the table was set for the guests that would never arrive.
The table was set for the soldiers that died in Vietnam in the A Company Ace High 22/12 Cavalry in the First Air Cavalry in the 1970 tour.
The veterans from the A Company Ace High 22/12 Cavalry in the First Air Cavalry joined together on June 18 for their 50th reunion one year late.
This year, they dedicated a memorial stone that was placed in the Route 66 Interpretive Center.
They were meant to join together last year, but COVID-19 made that impossible.
These veterans served in the Vietnam War in 1970, and they were stationed predominantly in the most northern part of south Vietnam.
The mastermind behind the reunion is Chandler native, Doyle Miller, who is one of the veterans. He has led the reunion since 2015.
The men that were in this company were from all over the United States.
Bob Gallagher is from Alamo, Texas, and he was the captain of the company.
Donald Stewart was a rifleman, and he is from Cookeville, Tennessee.
Gallagher was a volunteer and this was his third tour in Vietnam, while Stewart was drafted at 23 years old. Gallager served for 32 in the military, while this was Stewart’s only tour.
“When I was in Vietnam I was an old man. I was 26 or 27 that was old,” Gallagher said. Today, ages 26 to 27 can be perceived as young, but in war youth is viewed differently.
“17-18 year old kids, you know,” Stewart said.
War changes everything, and makes people think about what they believe is most important in life.
“The biggest concern was for your fellow soldiers. When you’re in combat, you fight for yourself of course; but, the most important thing for a combat veteran is your companions. That’s what you worried about, and you wind up fighting for them more than anything else to ensure their safety,” Gallagher said.
As Gallagher was ensuring his brothers’ safety, his brothers were caring for his.
“You don’t think too much of yourself when you’re in combat. It’s more or less for the people around you,” Steward said. Even though both of these men were able to come home, they were not able to leave everything behind in Vietnam.
“It was something I didn’t talk about too much. It has a definite effect, which I really didn’t realize for years. It’s something the family didn’t really know about,” Stewart said. Even though there were things they wanted to address about the war, there were certain conversations they avoided.
“There was so much dissention in the United States against the war. Usually, you tried to present and talk as little about it as you could,” Gallagher said. Stewart followed up Gallagher saying, “When you weren’t on duty, you wouldn’t wear uniform.” These men went into battle for a country that was harshly divided on if they should be going in the first place. This created a tragic juxtaposition for the soldiers.
“There was a saying that many of us fell into. It was the unwilling led by the unqualified to do the unnecessary for the ungrateful,” Gallagher said. To which Stewart immediately responded with, “That says it all.”
There was a table that was set for those who had died in action with their names and various meaningful placements to honor and remember their sacrifice.
The stone that was dedicated also had the same names along with the day they had died.
It has been 51 years since these men fought together, but they are forever bonded by an experience that shaped the course of their lives and this country.