LA MESA VIETNAM VETERAN CHOSEN FOR HONOR FLIGHT

East County News Service

October 9, 2022 (La Mesa) -- Long-time La Mesa resident Garry Armacost, a Vietnam veteran, will be flown to Washington D.C. on November 4 aboard an Honor Flight to be hailed as a hero. He will spend two days in our nation’s capital, where he will visit war memorials.

Until now, Honor Flights were reserved for veterans of World War II and the Korean War. But this year, Vietnam veterans have been added for recognition.

His wife, Linda Armacost, says she is “thrilled” that her husband has been chosen.

The flight is for Vietnam veterans awarded a Purple Heart or higher, she says. “Like many veterans, Garry’s service left him with life-long disabilities,” she says. Those include heart surgery at 50, loss of half a kidney to a cancerous tumor, bladder cancer that resulted in removal of his bladder, and PTSD.

Armacost served in in the early stages of the war, classified as an Army Combat MP. He was originally assigned to Thailand, but a last-minute change of plans sent him to Vietnam as a helicopter gunner.

“He was shot down several times,” Linda states in an email sent to friends and family. “He spent time in the ‘brush’ following the spraying of Agent Orange.”

It took decades for the government to acknowledge the horrible effects of Agent Orange and another decade for the Congress to agree that agent orange caused cancer and other deadly diseases.

“Garry  was awarded a Purple Heart because he was wounded while serving as a guard on a swift boat. Swift boats carried supplies to troops along the Mekong River and would come under attack from the enemy hidden along the shore,” says Linda. “The day Garry was injured, they were carrying metal barrels of battery acid. As they rounded a bend in the river, machine gun fire tore through the upper decks and the soldiers went below deck. Garry noticed a soldier still on the deck covered in blood and climbed up  and brought him to safety. The deck was awash in battery acid that ate through his deck shoes and all the skin on the bottom of his feet. He spent weeks in the infirmary and has severe foot problems to this day.”

With the help of the Disabled American Veterans association, Garry Armacost was finally given 100% disability status from the Veterans Association.