By Sheri Trusty, Seneca County Media Relations Coordinator
On Nov. 3, over 30 military veterans returned from the trip of a lifetime. Two days earlier, they had boarded the Seneca County Honor Bus at the Seneca County Fairgrounds for a free, two-night stay in Washington, D.C., where they visited memorials and monuments, viewed the sites, and enjoyed the unique camaraderie known only to veterans. They returned to a crowd of family and friends who welcomed them with heartfelt cheers and waving flags, including Seneca County Commissioner Anthony Paradiso and Tiffin Mayor Lee Wilkinson.
For two of the veterans, the trip was made especially poignant by their participation in a wreath-laying ceremony.
Navy veteran Don Tyler and DeaLynn Keckler, who is also a Navy veteran, laid wreaths to honor fallen vets. Tyler, who served from 1965 to 1968, placed a wreath to honor fellow Vietnam War veterans.
“It was a very touching thing, a very emotionally moving thing,” Tyler said.
Tyler served as a machinist’s mate during the war.
“I ran the engines and boilers below the ship,” he said.
Tyler said he couldn’t pinpoint the best part of the Honor Bus trip.
“We went to so many memorials. They were done so professionally. And we went to the Washington Monument, all the way to the top,” he said. “There were a lot of best parts of the trip.”
Keckler’s experience with Honor Bus gave her something she didn’t expect: healing. As she placed the wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, she became a part of a tradition that gives voice to the three unidentified service members who were laid to rest at the tomb. In the process, she found her own voice.
“It was such an honor to do that. It was amazing,” she said. “It had sentinels. They have to stay with them 24/7 to make sure nothing happens to them because they have no voice at all because they are unknown.”
Laying the wreath was the pinnacle of Keckler’s Honor Bus experience.
“Laying the wreath was the best thing for me – that, and being with other vets,” she said. “I haven’t been with other vets for years. Sometimes, vets don’t get together. It depends on when they went into the military. Bad things happened at certain times.”
Honoring the Unknown Soldiers and connecting with the veterans around her helped Keckler move beyond lies she has lived with for years.
“I have a better understanding of myself as a corpsman in the Navy than I ever had because I was treated badly when I got home,” Keckler said. “I went into the Navy three months after Vietnam, so in my mind, I didn’t count. I didn’t go to war, so I didn’t count. It took a long time to understand that I did do things. I took care of the men after they got home.”
The trip to D.C. gave Keckler new friends, new memories, and a new perception of the impact of her service. The Honor Bus helped Keckler step into the honor she couldn’t see, the honor that has always surrounded her.