Veteran to soldiers: 'It's OK to be scared'
Story Highlights
Walt Peters welcomes soldiers home, wishes "Godspeed" to those deploying
The Vietnam veteran has greeted an estimated 20,000 soldiers since 2004
He says he lost sight as a result of chemical diabetes from Agent Orange exposure
That's why the retired Vietnam veteran has stood outside at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, Georgia, for the past four years as a beacon of pride and support, welcoming home returning soldiers and wishing "Godspeed" to those deploying.
"To me, if it wasn't for our soldiers and our veterans, we would not have this beautiful country," says Peters. "These guys are our freedom."
Peters, 64, has been one of the last people that about 20,000 soldiers so far have seen before boarding the plane for the war zone -- and one of the first seen upon return.
No matter what time the soldiers' flights are arriving or departing -- many take place in the middle of the night -- Peters is there to shake their hands and give them a token of support: a small American flag. Some of those flags, Peters says, have gone to Iraq and back.
"When they touch that flag, we're giving them a piece of our country, saying, 'Thank you.'"
Peters is not the only volunteer showing his support at each flight. But he does all of this nearly blind.
He says learned he had chemical diabetes nearly 10 years ago after he was exposed to Agent Orange during his Vietnam tours. He has lost almost all of his sight over the past few years, but that hasn't depleted his dedication to the soldiers.
"When I went to Vietnam on my tours I'd never had this. I had never had nobody say, 'We appreciate your service. We thank you for what you're doing for our freedom,'" Peters says.
"When they get on that plane, they're gonna know that this old Vietnam vet cares."
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This is just one of the reasons why I think the Vietnam veterans are the greatest generation. When they came home, the older veterans did not greet them with a "Welcome Home" or stand up for them. They did a lot of complaining about the fact there were so many protestors but when it came down to doing something for the Vietnam veterans, they didn't. The Vietnam veterans decided they would be different and ever since they came home they have been on a mission that "never again will one generation of veterans abandon another" and they have moved mountains to prove it. Every program this nation has for PTSD began because of them. That was just the start. Most of the advances in research began with them. When it came to chemical exposure, they were on the front lines and have been fighting for the generations who came after them as hard as they fight for themselves.
