A proper homecoming

When Jim Spinetti returned home in 1972 from Cambodia after serving four years with the United States Navy, he was met with an unexpected reception. 

“We were not welcomed home at all,” he said, recalling the verbal attacks on Vietnam veterans at the time. “People said we killed families and babies and things like that. It was a pretty bad deal when we came home.” 

Fast forward 50 years, and Spinetti, alongside 16 fellow Vietnam veterans from Hollister, found himself returning home once again, but this time it was to a warmer reception—and it was a homecoming like no other. 

On the evening of Oct. 22, families and friends welcomed home 17 of Hollister’s Vietnam War veterans from Washington, D.C at the San Francisco International Airport. The veterans spent two days on an all-expense paid trip to visit memorials in Washington, D.C. with the Bay Area Honor Flight. The nonprofit organization, a division of the national Honor Flight Network, provides American war veterans the opportunity to visit these memorials with other veterans, to remember friends and comrades lost, and share their stories and experiences with each other, according to its website. The organization has 129 hubs (chapters) around the country and has flown over ​​245,178 veterans to Washington, D.C. since 2005. It currently serves veterans from World War II through Vietnam, giving priority to WWII and terminally ill veterans from all wars.

“At any one time, there are probably 10 Honor Flights in Washington, D.C., from different hubs from around the country,” Bay Area Honor Flight President John Singleton told BenitoLink. 

And volunteers from all over the country, known as ‘Guardians,’ “fly with the veterans on every flight providing assistance and helping veterans have a safe, memorable and rewarding experience,” according to the Bay Area Honor Flight website.

It was a program Spinetti and VFW Post 9242 member John Maderis wanted local Vietnam veterans to experience after hearing about it from local WWII veterans four years ago. 

Maderis, 76, who served with the United States Army in Vietnam from 1966 to 1968, and Spinetti, 74, who served in the U.S. Navy from 1968 to 1972 in clandestine missions in Cambodia and Laos, felt it was important to gather as many local Vietnam veterans as they could to experience the Honor Flight.  

“They told us about what a great trip it was,” Maderis said. “So we said ‘Let’s get a list together and try to go to Washington, D.C.’”

After learning each Honor Flight can accommodate up to 32 veterans, they brought the information to a group of veteran friends they would meet at Country Rose Café for breakfast every Tuesday. And as members of Hollister VFW Post 9242, the two men also brought the information to their fellow Post 9242 members. 

Spinetti and Maderis were able to get 22 names of Vietnam veterans on that list. However, after the spread of COVID-19, their trip was stalled as Honor Flights were suspended from March 2020 to August 2021. By the time the flights started back up again, Spinetti had moved to Nevada (though he maintains a lifetime membership with Post 9242) and four veterans from the original list had passed away: Hollister residents John Barrett, Joe Lee, Mike Pera and Bob Burnam. 

“And a few who originally signed up had to back out because it was going to be too much walking for them,” Maderis said.

However, the final 17 veterans in attendance found the experience life changing.   

“Most of us who went were a little reluctant to go,” Post 9242 member and Vietnam veteran Adam Mendolla said. “Most of the honor for us was not the memorials or museums, it was the reception.”  

Mendolla is the father of BenitoLink’s reporter Jenny Mendolla Arbizu. 

The Honor Flight organization ensures that veterans are greeted by veteran groups and emergency responder agencies, among others, when arriving in D.C. and upon returning home. 

“The way that people treated you was amazing,” said Post 9242 member and Vietnam veteran Bernie Ramirez. “When we first got there, we got to the airport and [fire trucks] had water shooting over the plane. And then we walked out of the plane and there were people waiting for us. We’ve never seen that. Never.” 

And on the evening of Oct. 22, the veterans were met at the departure gate by their families and friends, as well as representatives from the San Francisco Police Department, San Francisco Fire Department, United States Naval Sea Cadets, Team Red White and Blue (a veteran organization), Boy Scout Troop 42 from San Mateo, United Service Organizations (USO) and American Legion Santa Clara Post 419. 

A parade, led by Post 419, marched the veterans through the departure terminals and out of SFO. The Silicon Valley Pipe Band performed the bagpipes as onlookers applauded. Many veterans were stunned to receive such a reception. 

“We wanted to make sure to give them the thank you that they never got and the welcome home,” said Veterans of Foreign War (VFW) Post 9242 Commander Maria Spandri. “They are servants to this day, and they keep giving back.”

Spandri, who served in the U.S. Air Force in Germany in support of Operation Desert Storm, said it was important to her to make this trip possible for the local Vietnam veterans. 

“When I came back from Desert Storm, they were there shaking my hand with flags,” she said. “They were right there at the tarmac saying thank you. They gave me what they didn’t have.” 

Spandri received sizable donations from local companies who sponsored the trip: Pride Conveyor Systems, Corbin, Brigantino Irrigation, Hollister Elks Lodge #1436, West Coast Rubber Recycling, Brent Redmond Logistics, and Bowman’s First Trust Alarm Company. 

Spandri said the texts she’s received by those veterans who went on the Honor Flight has shown her just how much this trip was needed for Vietnam veterans. 

“This has been the most life healing trip for them, and they’ve come back different people because of the way they were treated.”

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