FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WOWO) – August 7, 2023 was National Purple Heart Day. It was also the day Honor Flight Northeast Indiana took 102 Purple Heart veterans to Washington D.C. to see the memorials built in their honor. The 102 Purple Heart veterans on board represented 124 Purple Hearts in total. One of those Purple Heart recipients was Samuel J. Roth. Samuel was a Marine who served in Vietnam.

Two days after returning home from his trip to Washington DC, he sent the following letter to his fellow Americans:

On my first trip to Washington DC ever I was impressed and humbled by the many memorials that were dedicated to our brave servicemen.  I was honored to place a wreath at the Iwo Jima Marine memorial.  After a delayed trip home, I was overwhelmed by the thousands of patriots who were there to greet us at around midnight.  When going through the greeting line I was shaking hands with men, women, and children hearing their words “thank you” and “welcome home”.  After going through the line, I was thinking about all our veterans who never received a thank you or welcome home.  This is very sad.  I didn’t consider myself a hero when in Vietnam, I was just doing what I was trained to do as a Marine.  When I got wounded, I was just having a “bad day”. 

Finally, I would like to thank all of the volunteers, guardians, and police escorts who gave the love and time to make this trip possible!  Thank you to the many patriots that showed up at the coliseum to greet us and a special thanks to WOWO, the Penny Pitch drive, and all the fundraisers that funded this project!

Sincerely,

Samuel J. Roth