Ernie Hopkins sits in Veterans Park in Port Clinton which was constructed to honor veterans. The city was a different place when Hopkins returned from the Vietnam War. He should have been honored. Instead, he was shamed. (Photo by Sheri Trusty)

BY SHERI TRUSTY

PORT CLINTON – For many Vietnam War combat veterans, like Ernie Hopkins of Port Clinton, the war was a continual string of isolation. When he boarded a bus in Port Clinton at 5 a.m. one cold, dark morning in February, 1970, no one was there to send him off. When he returned home in September, 1971, no one gave him a hero’s welcome. In between, he faced the horrors of war, mostly alone.

But on June 9 of this year, Hopkins was surrounded by gratitude and support when he joined a Flag City Honor Flight trip to Washington, D.C. Honor Flight provides free trips to the U.S. Capital for military veterans to thank them for their service and give them the opportunity to see the war memorials. For many Vietnam veterans, it is their first opportunity to see the Vietnam wall.

It was quite a different experience than Hopkins endured as a young soldier. When he boarded the bus in Port Clinton, he knew no one there and faced an unknown future in a volatile, foreign land alone. He went through basic training and advanced Army combat training without getting to know the other recruits. And then he traveled to Vietnam without the support of friends.

“I was probably in Vietnam for over three weeks before I got to know anybody,” he said. “And then my number was pulled, and I got on a helicopter and didn’t know anybody again.”

Hopkins was assigned to Charlie Company and spent months fighting in the jungles of Vietnam.

“Then I got to know people, but you didn’t really want to get too close. You never knew when they would be killed,” he said.

In the jungle, you don’t get to mourn.

Vietnam War veteran Ernie Hopkins traveled to Washington, D.C. with Flag City Honor Flight this summer. The trip gave him the opportunity to remember the friends that never made it home. (Photo by Sheri Trusty)

“You never get to say goodbye,” Hopkins said. “Your best friend is shot and dies next to you, and they take the body away.”

And the fighting and the isolation continue.

Hopkins said Honor Flight gives veterans the opportunity to say goodbye to the friends they lost in the war.

“I saw the names of soldiers I served with. You go to the wall, see their name, and it brings back memories. The wall gives us an opportunity to reconnect with them,” he said. “The wall is a solemn place. It gives you a feeling of closure.”

When Hopkins returned to Port Clinton from the Vietnam War, he wasn’t treated like the hero he was. He was treated like an enemy. He was kicked out of a local diner and a bar, and he was banned from downtown Port Clinton by a police officer, all while wearing his uniform. Those experiences made Honor Flight more precious, as complete strangers gave their time, efforts, and heart to take veterans to D.C. He was especially grateful for the guardians, the men and women who escorted the veterans, making sure they enjoyed the trip. Although Hopkins’ cousin, Anthony Geogosian, traveled with him, many of the veterans were escorted by strangers.

“They had to attend guardian training, and then they took time off work to go with us,” Hopkins said. “They spent 12 hours with somebody they knew nothing about.”

Hopkins said some Vietnam War veterans are still so bitter about the treatment they received when they returned home that they reject expressions of gratitude now.

“Some of them say, ‘Where were you 55 years ago?’” Hopkins said. “You have to let that go. A lot of those people who treated us like that are gone now.”

The Port Clinton that rejected Hopkins’ service is grateful for it now.

“You wouldn’t think a little town like Port Clinton would treat people so bad,” he said. “But they’re thanking us now.”