BY MICHELLE KEY
PUBLISHER
OPELIKA — For Vietnam veteran Wilbert D. Payne Jr., a recent Wiregrass Honor Flight to Washington, D.C., was about far more than seeing the nation’s monuments.
It offered something he said had been missing for decades: a sense of closure.
Payne and fellow Opelika veteran James Hughley were among the veterans who took part in the Sept. 15-17 trip.
“I served in Vietnam for the country, and this trip helped give me closure on returning home where we didn’t get the things that we should have got,” Payne said. “This trip helped me get closure on serving in Vietnam by the welcome we got. I will never forget that.”
The three-day trip included visits to several military and national memorials, with a schedule that kept the group moving from early morning until evening.
Although Payne said each of the memorials was meaningful, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial held a special place for him.
Payne served in Vietnam and returned home, but Milton Hunter, who grew up next door to him, did not. Payne said his mother helped raise Hunter after the young man’s mother died, and he became almost like part of Payne’s own family.
“He would go in and out [of] our house like he lived there,” Payne recalled. “He went to Vietnam right after I did, but he didn’t make it back. I did, and that’s touching.”
While at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Payne located Hunter’s name on the wall. A park ranger helped him find it, and Payne had photographs taken with his hand pointing to the name so they could be shared with Hunter’s brother.
Payne said, his experience was one of the most emotional moments of the trip.
“All the memorials were touching,” Payne said. “All of them were touching to me … but the Vietnam one was closer to my heart.”
Payne said the veterans were treated with tremendous respect throughout the journey.
“They honored us, so they made us feel like celebrities,” he said. “I will never, never forget.”
Among the veterans traveling with the group was 100-year-old Willow Adams of Birmingham, Alabama, the oldest veteran on the Honor Flight.
Among those welcoming the veterans were young people, including ROTC students. Payne recalled meeting one young woman during the trip and then seeing her again when the group returned to Pensacola, Florida. She presented him with a poster she had carried, and Payne encouraged her to continue pursuing her goals.
“I wish you all the luck on your career,” he recalled telling her. “Whatever you decide you want to do … you’re going to be successful.”
The interaction was especially meaningful to Payne, who said he enjoys seeing young people carry themselves with confidence and take an interest in veterans and their experiences.
Hughley, also of Opelika, is a three-time Purple Heart recipient and was Payne’s roommate during the trip.
The veterans also visited sites including the Air Force Memorial and Navy Memorial. Payne said he was particularly impressed by a Marine honor group he watched perform at the Navy Memorial. Afterward, members of the group came over to shake hands with the veterans.
Payne said the trip was carefully coordinated, with the veterans following a full itinerary and sometimes having to shorten stops in order to remain on schedule. Despite the pace, the purpose remained clear: allowing the veterans to focus on the experience and on the recognition being given to their service.
He said the trip was made possible through private donations rather than government funding, something for which he expressed deep appreciation.
For Payne, however, the most lasting memory will not simply be the monuments or the busy schedule.
It will be the welcome.
Decades after returning home from Vietnam, Payne said the recognition and gratitude shown to him and the other veterans helped heal something that had remained unfinished.
“It brought tears to my eyes,” he said.
