Pacific Coast Air Museum holds tribute to Vietnam War veterans

Bob Broaddus thought Saturday’s tribute to veterans of the Vietnam War in Santa Rosa was particularly fitting, being that 45 years ago to the day he returned to the North Coast from his Army tour of duty in Southeast Asia.

That return, on Aug. 15, 1970, came with a decidedly cooler welcome, Broaddus told an audience at the Pacific Coast Air Museum that included many vets.

Broaddus, a Ukiah High grad who now serves as chief maintenance inspector for REACH Air Ambulance, said after he stepped off a bus in uniform at the former Greyhound station in downtown Santa Rosa, he noticed people step around him or “walk to the other side of the street.”

Christina Olds, director of museum operations, said that too often Americans blamed returning vets for an unpopular war, which they had no part in starting. In contrast, she said, Saturday’s event was meant to tell those who served in that war, “We welcome you and honor you and thank you.”

About 150 people gathered for a 1 p.m. ceremony. But volunteers said many more turned out for the day, evidenced by the 300 hot dogs sold for lunch.

Charley Taylor, a retired Navy commander and pilot, said a strong motivation for many who served was the aim of freeing American prisoners of war held at the time by Vietnam. The idea, he said, was “to get that war over with and get those guys out of there.”

Eventually. nearly 600 U.S. POWs were released in the spring of 1973.

Taylor, who served 25 years in the Navy, flew a bombing mission on the last day of aerial combat over North Vietnam in January 1973. On a mission a month earlier, his A6 Intruder was hit by shrapnel from a surface-air-missile, but he managed to safely land the aircraft at an Air Force base near Da Nang.

Most of the vets are now retired. Some said they are at a stage of life where they hearken back to the people and events from their service years.

Broaddus, 67, said this year he went to Hawaii and sat in the very helicopter on which he had served as a chief door gunner and mechanic. Asked if he has found any of his old crew mates, he replied, “I’m trying.”