LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – Vietnam War Veteran “Roc” Dickerson has feared a visit to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall for years.
“Today I came here, and I faced that fear,” said Dickerson.
FOX5 recently traveled to the Washington D.C. area with Honor Flight Southern Nevada to tour war memorials. We are now featuring stories from several of those locations.
Roc Dickerson, who is from Southern Nevada, says he was part of a small patrol unit during the Vietnam War. Dickerson told us the group would seek out enemy forces and call in strikes to take them out. However, Dickerson says the group was attacked in the A Shau Valley and he lost a friend. His name was Maxwell S. Frantz.
“We were good friends. As good of friends as you can be in a combat zone,” said Dickerson.
He added,” I tried not to make friends with too many people over there because we didn’t last long.”
He says Frantz was killed in a rocket-propelled grenade attack. Dickerson told FOX5 if he ever found the courage to visit the wall, he would find Frantz’s name and say a goodbye prayer for him.
“We knew immediately he was gone, and we had to evade on out, leave him there. And now I’ve seen him here. So, he knows I didn’t leave him behind,” said Dickerson.
And once Dickerson touched Frantz’s name on the wall, his life seemed different.
“A visit to the wall calms a lot of devils down. I’m thankful I got to make this trip. It’s changed stuff,” said Dickerson.
After rubbing his fingers on Frantz’s name, Dickerson saluted his friend, facing his fear that day and finding some inner peace decades after combat.
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