“I’m surprised and honored.” Vietnam vets reunite with aircraft they flew

For the men and women who served during the Vietnam War, the wounds may have scabbed over, but the scars of war still run deep. When presented with an opportunity to come together and reunite with one of the very aircraft they flew and worked on, even 50 years later, it presents a small but significant step in healing old wounds and sharing memories.

For eight Vietnam veterans, a Gold Star son, and families, such an opportunity was presented, and with Alaska as the backdrop, some would even be able to take a flight on the one of the 424KT, also known as “The Otter.”

The idea came about via social media when Sarah Loreth, the Media Manager for K2 Aviation and Rust Flying Service, decided to do a post highlighting the history of the airplanes.

“It came about accidentally,” Loreth explains. “I thought it would be really good content to write some up some history of the planes since our aircraft are from the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. So I made a post on Facebook putting the history of the aircraft, how it flew in Vietnam, and how it got to us.” She said from there, it all went viral, and soon Loreth was receiving calls from veterans from the Vietnam War that flew the aircraft, heard that some of the men and their families were planning a trip to Alaska and decided to make a day of it.