Two hours before the flight home, a mail call brought Leonard Abramowitz letters from Orange County schoolchildren. The Indio VFW commander read four himself, while his wife, Suzy, read him several more. One sixth grader wrote that friends veterans have lost are still beside them, according to KESQ’s report.
The letters met Abramowitz on a trip that also took him to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. He made a rubbing of a name for a fellow member of Bill Huntington VFW Post 3699, but said he could not bring himself to search the wall for the crewmates he lost. The National Park Service says the wall bears the etched names of 58,318 people who died in combat or are listed as missing in action.
A personal homecoming, not a universal account
Abramowitz says the trip was the first time he felt respected and welcomed home. He had returned from Vietnam through Kennedy Airport in 1970 in his jungle uniform and was cursed at and spat on, KESQ reported. That account describes his own experience; it should not be treated as evidence that every Vietnam veteran had the same reception.
Abramowitz joined the Navy at 17. In 1969, a rocket-propelled grenade attack on his gunboat on the Mekong Delta killed three crew members and wounded him. After treatment in Japan and 10 surgeries, he lost fingers on his right hand, according to KESQ. More than five decades later, he traveled with 34 other veterans on Honor Flight Southland’s September trip from Los Angeles to Baltimore; the group included 31 Vietnam veterans and four Korean War veterans, and had waited 10 years for the flight.
Remembrance beyond one trip
Honor Flight Network says its trips take veterans to memorials built in their honor at no cost to them, with travel paid for through donations. Honor Flight Southland describes itself as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit operated entirely by volunteers. Those organizational details offer context for the journey, but do not explain the length of this group’s wait.
Public recognition has its own history: California Gov. Gavin Newsom proclaimed March 30, 2026, Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day, according to the governor’s office. That state observance is distinct from Abramowitz’s personal experience. After receiving the students’ letters, he said he plans to put on his uniform and visit schools to thank them, KESQ reported.
