Kentucky Vietnam veteran reflects on brotherhood, sacrifice, and changing appreciation decades later

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Saturday is Vietnam Veterans Memorial Day.

It's a day to reflect and honor those who served in one of America's most controversial wars.

"I talked to the recruiter who told me I'd become a medic," Vietnam veteran Rick Rowe said. "And I probably never got to Vietnam."

Life doesn't always go as planned.

And then-23-year-old Rick Rowe quickly learned that lesson in 1966.

"When I arrived at Fort Dix, I was told, 'no you're going to the 101st Airborne,'" Rowe said.

That change in plans put Rowe on a life trajectory, he maybe didn't originally expect.

At 26 years old he shipped off to Vietnam and was assigned to A-troop, 1st of the 9th Air Cavalry.

"We went out looking to see what had happened the night before, and what we could stir up," he said.

It was Rowe's job during his 12-month deployment. But perhaps the most meaningful part of his job was living up to the saying of "no man left behind."

"We always pulled out our shot down guys out," Rowe said.

And for the ones who couldn't be saved, they never forget.

"We put together a story of each of these soldiers," he said.

A book memorializes the men lost in Vietnam from A-troop 1st of the 9th Cavalry and at their annual reunion, hosted all over the country, they honor those lives.

"We read these names annually at our reunions," he said.

It's there, in the jungles of Vietnam, Rowe developed a brotherhood so strong, they continue to help each other survive, emotionally and physically.

"One of our good Cobra troopers gave a kidney to one of our ailing fellows a few years ago, that's how close we are," Rowe said.

It's that brotherhood that got Rowe through the years where politics sometimes got in the way of appreciation.

"When I came home, they told us we weren't allowed to wear our uniform, and so I didn't," he said.

It's been five decades between then and now and Rowe notices the shift in appreciation.

"I think we're doing very well and I've certainly healed," he said.

And his combined 32 years of active and reserve duty is something this Vietnam veteran is immensely proud of.

"All Cav guys have a Cav hat," Rowe said.

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