Vietnam vets are special guests at this weekend’s Fort Worth air show

A half century after the start of the Vietnam war, many veterans still recall the chilly reception they received when they got home.

Terry Tabor fared better than most.

The 67-year-old North Richland Hills resident flew home with his wife and missed the hostile reception some received. But Tabor still remembers the way some Vietnam veterans were viewed when he got back to the United States.

“When we got home, nobody valued anything we had done,” Tabor said.

The Department of Defense and military installations around the country are now trying to make amends.

As part of an air show featuring the Blue Angels this weekend at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, one hangar has been converted into a Vietnam history center.

Tabor, who is a member of the Fort Worth Aviation Museum at Meacham Field, was helping set up the museum’s display on Wednesday for the Air Power Expo.

Besides the Navy’s Blue Angels, Air Power Expo’s shows on Saturday and Sunday will feature demonstrations from Vietnam-era helicopters and fighter jets, including the UH-1E Huey combat chopper and the Mig 17F aircraft (flown by the enemy). The U.S. Army Golden Knights aerial demonstration team will also perform.

The pop-up museum will include an encampment called Fire Base Fort Worth to resemble a fire base perimeter. An OH-58 Kiowa helicopter was transported from Meacaham to the hangar. There will be speakers talking about the war and Vietnam veterans sharing stories that will be archived at the Library of Congress.

“There are 15 different museums and veterans support organizations who put all this together to make this look like a living history museum,” said Rusty Baker, the naval air station’s spokesman.

There will also be pinning ceremonies throughout both days for Vietnam veterans.

All of it will likely be emotional, Tabor said

“I know that a lot of different cities have done things to recognize the Vietnam veterans,” Tabor said. “It’s a time when we need to close that door. I feel good about those guys over there today defending us in the sand box. We didn’t get that so this is important.”

As a first lieutenant in the Air Force, Tabor said, the war wasn’t as difficult for him as it was for ground troops.

He was flying an OV-10 Bronco, a twin-engine, two-seater observation and light attack airplane. Tabor flew missions along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, a network of roads built from North Vietnam to South Vietnam. The trail went through the neighboring countries of Laos and Cambodia and was used to support the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Army.

‘The war was a contrast’

Tabor and fellow aviation museum member Tom Kemp both flew the Bronco and got to be a part of the first generation of laser-guided bombs.

“The war was a contrast,” Tabor said. “We had World War II stuff and then we also had the most modern stuff you could get. Tom and I flew as PAVE NAILs. They were the first laser guided bombs. We didn’t carry the bombs but F-4 guys did. When we had a specific target we wanted to hit directly with a 2,000-pound bomb, we would use our laser pod and were able to illuminate the target and the bomb would guide in. Every one was a hit.”

While many veterans of the war had a difficult experience, Tabor felt his was rewarding. They even flew search and rescue missions for pilots that were shot down.

“It was a really cool job as a first lieutenant in the Air Force,” Tabor said. “You were out there. You were in control of your part of the air war in Vietnam for four hours at a time. It was really a challenge. You had really tight targets where we had friendlies in the area and we had to put the bombs in real close. You had to be very restrictive about who could deliver that ordinance close to the friendlies.”

He was there from 1972 to 1973 when the U.S. was pulling troops out of Vietnam. He was officially stationed at Nakhon Phanam Royal Thai Air Force Base in Thailand but spent most of his time in Da Nang.

But Tabor had the bizarre experience of seeing North Vietnamese soldiers who come across into Thailand on a break from the war.

“It was an interesting place because right across the river were Phatet Lao and Viet Cong guys, but they would come over to our little village at Nakhon Phanom for their R&R,” Tabor said “So we would go downtown and have these guys who were 18 to 25 years old in civilian clothes but staring at you very hard. It was like crossing paths with your enemy. They’re relaxing and not wanting to get caught over there but at the same time you know they’re not part of the village because the village people aren’t being nice to them either.”

‘It wasn’t all in vain’

Tom Kemp, 72, who is treasurer of the aviation museum, is retired from the Air Force and lives in St. Francis Village, the Catholic enclave near Lake Benbrook. He was in Vietnam from December 1971 until September 1972.

He also flew the Bronco and found the search-and-rescue missions rewarding, along with using the first generation of smart bombs.

Like Tabor, he realizes many Vietnam vets had a more difficult experience.

“We were 3,000 to 4,000 feet in the air but those guys on the ground were staring the bad guys in the eyes,” Kemp said. “I don’t think I could have done it.”

When he returned to the U.S., Kemp landed in San Francisco and was told to take his uniform off because of all the anti-war protestors.

That still bothers him to this day.

But Kemp said he doesn’t hold any bitterness. He hopes this weekend’s event will help others

“To me, this is like closing a chapter,” Kemp said. “This will show it wasn’t all in vain.”

This story was originally published April 21, 2016 at 2:38 PM with the headline "Vietnam vets are special guests at this weekend’s Fort Worth air show."