Murphy – Four Cherokee County military veterans were included in a recent Honor Flight to the nation’s capital to recognize their service in defense of the nation.
Eddie Adams, J.D. Baker, Bob Strawhecker and Oscar Valdes were among a group of veterans who flew via chartered jet from Asheville to Washington to visit an assortment of memorials and veteran-oriented landmarks.
The local participants were included in the Asheville-based Blue Ridge Honor Flight and traveled to Washington for a whirlwind one-day tour on April 29.
Washington has significant war memorials representing World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. The trip also included the Lincoln Memorial and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery, across the Potomac River from D.C.
Strawhecker and Baker served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War. They served at a small naval base in Da Nang, Vietnam. Their paths crossed several times through the years, but they didn’t realize it until they met in Murphy in 2016 and compared notes.
Valdes’ service goes back even farther: he’s a Korean War U.S. Army veteran, one of only two veterans of that war on the April 29 Honor Flight. Valdes, 91, was the oldest veteran on that flight but, according to Baker, had no trouble getting around during the day-long tour.
Valdes’ activism resulted in Konehete Park in Murphy being rededicated and renamed Konehete Veterans Park in January.
Adams served in the Army during the Vietnam War. He said the flight left Asheville just past 6 a.m. and returned to Asheville at 8:30 p.m. In addition to the tours, participants were greeted on their return by a band, elected officials and a wide age range of people cheering them on – 800-1,000 people, he estimated.
During the flight, each veteran was presented a cigar-box-sized container – a mail call of sorts like they experienced back when they were serving – but this box was stuffed full of letters of gratitude and official certificates.
Baker described the trip as amazing. He said it was the welcome he didn’t receive when he returned stateside after his Vietnam War service.
“We did so much, it’s just so hard to take it all in,” he said. “It’s just unbelievable.”
Adams echoed Baker.
“It was over in the blink of an eye,” Adams said. “I couldn’t absorb it all until we got back.”