CORONADO, Calif. (KGTV) — The Vietnam Unit Memorial Monument on Naval Amphibious Base Coronado honors the sailors and coast guardsmen who didn’t make it home from Vietnam. It’s now run by one very special Vietnam veteran who makes it his mission to keep their memories alive.
Dozens of names spread across the Vietnam Unit memorial monument.
“Everyday that I’m here, I think about the people on the wall and not just the people on the wall or the people that I miss, but their families,” said Chuck Chaldekas.
Those names hold a special place in Chuck Chaldekas's heart.
He’s not only the president of the Vietnam Unit Memorial Monument Fund, he also served 27 years in the navy; three tours were as a navy seal in Vietnam.
“Everything I did was very, very interesting, from blowing channels in the Philippines and in Korea to operating in the jungles of Vietnam,” he said.
One of the most exciting was when he was a 22-year-old third-class petty officer…training former Kietkong fighters.
“I was running combat missions with 35 former Vietkong who had traded over to the government side. A couple of those guys were on the edge. You didnt really know whose side they were really on… up to that time I was on a with Echo SEAL Team 1," he said.
Some of the names he now walks by weekly are the servicemen he served alongside.
“John is from Lake City, Pennsylvania, and he and two others from my first platoon were killed in our first deployment," he said.
Chaldekas got to come home, but not to the homecoming he deserved.
“People got tired of giving up their treasure in men and money, so support for the war went away. When I came home for the last time and got off the plane at Travis Air Force Base, there were people standing outside the gate protesting, waiting to spit on us," he explained.
But today, his work honors the veterans who served in the jungles of Vietnam, even making him emotional at times.
"I can’t help but think…why them and not me?," he said.
Chuck will be taking flight with Honor Flight San Diego on the first-ever all-SEAL Honor Flight at the end of April.
Chaldekas is always looking for volunteers to help with the monument. You can learn morehere.
