A Vietnam veteran got a big surprise Wednesday upon his return home from an Honor Flight trip to Washington, DC.
After Ken Easterly, who is now 80 years old, served his nation in the Vietnam War, he returned home and worked in law enforcement and later retired, First Alert 4 reported Friday.
The St. Clair County board member recently enjoyed a trip to the nation’s capital to view the war memorials honoring the men and women who have sacrificed so much for the United States.
One of those sites is the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, which includes the names of over 58,000 servicemen and women who gave their lives during the conflict, according to the National Park Service (NPS) website.
The memorial offers a place for “healing and remembrance” to visitors, per the NPS.
“The memorial offers veterans, family members of the deceased, and the general visitor, a place to meet, remember, and honor those who gave so much. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial reminds us of the cost of war. War will always produce sacrifice and always create loss, and here along this wall we remember the over 58,200 Americans who answered the call of their country and gave that ultimate sacrifice,” a park ranger said in 2013:
Easterly is a beloved figure in his community; therefore, they wanted to make his return special by throwing him a welcome home party.
“When we came back from Vietnam, we didn’t get a reception like this, and this has been just great, just great, it’s been wonderful,” the veteran said.
In a social media post on Friday, St. Clair County Board Chairman Mark Kern shared photos of Easterly enjoying his time in D.C. and at the party.
“So very awesome! Ken is a County Board Member and is retired law enforcement. When he returned from Vietnam after two tours, Ken joined the Illinois Secretary of State Police. He retired as a Captain and Commander of the Metro East Auto Theft Task Force,” he wrote:
“Ken is one of the good guys!” Kern added.
