Former Stockton resident Larry Baxter returns from recent Honor Flight trip
The following excerpt was taken from a June 29, 2002 article in The Holton Recorder, written by Jennifer McDaniel. One of the veterans featured in the article, which was entitled “Honor Flight offers veterans a once in a lifetime experience,” was Larry Baxter, a U.S. Army and Vietnam veteran. Baxter, who resides in Holton, is a former Stockton resident, and is the son of the late Jack and Ileta Baxter. The trip was taken on June 5-6. Baxter’s part in the article is as follows: Vietnam veteran Larry Baxter of Holton was recently a part of an Honor Flight trip to Washington D.C. The trip (June 5th and June 6th), honored veterans from Holton, Lyndon and Franklin County who toured Arlington Cemetery and watched the changing of the guards before visiting the World War II, Korean, Vietnam, Lincoln and Franklin Delano Roosevelt memorials during the afternoon.
The next day they headed to the Air Force memorial before watching a Sea of White ceremony honoring the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Midway at the U. S.
Navy Memorial in downtown Washington, D. C.
An afternoon tour of the U.S Capital was the last stop before the veterans boarded a return flight to Kansas City.
Baxter, who was born and raised in Stockton, was drafted into the U.S.
Army at 18. After basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., Baxter went to Germany where he spent six months. But in December 1965, he received his orders for Vietnam.
Following his tour he was discharged in 1966.
After a couple of months passed, Baxter re-upped and returned to Vietnam where he served as a helicopter door gunner in the Mekong Delta. He remained there until 1968.
More than five decades later, Baxter can still vividly describe his second tour. As the words came, so did the tears. It was Easter Sunday 1967 when a helicopter pilot and seven other fellow gunners were killed inaction.
Landing in the LZ (Landing Zone) was dangerous because they were waiting for us,” he said.
“Their names are on the wall.”
On his final tour, Baxter was stationed with a combat engineering battalion near the Cambodian border until he was finally discharged in 1976. During his third tour, Baxter said his group lost several runners—some of those were friends.
This was Baxter’s second trip to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. His first was with his adult children in 2007. As he stands at the wall, Baxter cranes his neck looking for those familiar names among the more than 58,000 etched in black granite.
After spotting one, he stands there silently, tracing the letters with his index finger. Tears stream down his face. Just a few feet away, Baxter’s guardian, Madie Wilt, a graduate of Holton High School, watches him carefully before offering him his wheelchair.
By the next morning, Baxter is feeling better and manages a smile.
But as he talks about his moments at the wall, his voice falters for a moment as he wipes away more tears.
“Even though I visited the wall 15 years ago, it still doesn’t get any easier,” he said. But it’s helped me to visit. It’s given me some closure.
It’s still pretty emotional.
Even after all this time, it’s still there and it haunts you. You think of all the brothers you lost, and it’s something that you just never get over.”
Four years earlier, Baxter made the Honor Flight, but after touching down, he learned his brother (Barry Baxter) died earlier that day. The rest of his trip was spent in his hotel room planning the funeral services.
This trip was Baxter’s second chance.
“I’ve really enjoyed it, and I’d recommend it to any veteran with PTSD,” he said. “It’s something you never get over, but it’s good therapy. This has been awesome. It’s been a great experience.”
“It’s what you guys deserve,” Wilt told Baxter. It means so much more to hear about this from him.
It’s just all so eye-opening. I can’t imagine what he went through. It’s so hard seeing those names.
It’s heartbreaking.”
