Wife of Waynesville Vietnam veteran whose remains found after 54 years takes Honor Flight
WASHINGTON, D.C. - As the Blue Ridge Honor Flight headed back from the Baltimore/Washington International Airport to Asheville on the night of Oct. 14, Flat Rock's Lucy Steppe, a Gold Star Family escort, leaned forward in her seat and spoke with Julia Coffey.
As the two women held each other's hand, Coffey put her hand over her heart and said, "Don't ever, ever give up hope," ... words that were exactly what Steppe needed to hear.
Coffey was a special guest on the flight, as the remains of her husband, Waynesville native Capt. Frederick Hall who was a pilot in the U.S. Air Force, were found in Vietnam just a few months ago after 54 years. A funeral was held Oct. 11 in Waynesville for Hall, and the attendance was in the thousands, according to Blue Ridge Honor Flight founder Jeff Miller.
Steppe is a Gold Star Family escort for the Blue Ridge Honor Flights, which was founded by Hendersonville's Miller in 2006 to fly veterans for free to Washington, D.C., to see the war memorials. Gold Star Families are those who are related to veterans who have died, and they are now special guests on the flights.
Steppe, 60, is still hoping that one day she'll receive a call just like Coffey did. Steppe's father, Capt. John Kozuch, was a U.S. Air Force pilot whose plane was shot down during the Vietnam War, she said.
More: Miller's vision of flights honoring veterans reaches Puerto Rico, Hawaii
"It's now been 51 years, and he still hasn't been found," she said.
Steppe's letter to her father
As people were boarding the flight at the Asheville Airport on the morning of Oct. 14, Steppe was sitting quietly in her seat, writing a letter. She said when she heard about Coffey's husband's remains being found after all this time, it inspired her to reach out again to her father.
"My father was an F-4 fighter pilot. His plane took off the night of Oct. 3, 1972, and it never returned," she said. "Some people say it happened over the ocean in the Sea of Japan, and some say it happened over land. (Coffey's) husband's remains were sent home 54 years later. For me, it's been 51 years, but I don't know if anything will ever be sent home."
Steppe and her daughter were on the April Blue Ridge Honor Flight as Gold Star Family members.
More: Blue Ridge Honor Flight: Veterans pay their respects at the war memorials in Washington
"I had been there before. But when I went that time (in April) and left something there for my father, I finally found peace," Steppe said. "Every time I go to the wall, I leave something for him. The last time I went I left a picture of Jesus and wrote something on the back. This time, I'm leaving a letter telling him that I'm escorting Gold Star Family members and how that I thought I had found peace and I want to stay there. But with this widow's remains being found, it has kind of taken me down a rabbit hole. So, I'm just letting him know that."
When Steppe was sitting in her seat on the flight back to Asheville, she said even though it was pouring rain, she still left her letter.
"It was probably ruined by all the rain, but I know that he knows I left it there for him," she said.
Coffey's first visit to the wall
As the rain began to intensify, Coffey was in a wheelchair as she was pushed up to the Vietnam Memorial Wall for the first time. Tears were already flowing down her cheeks.
"Oh my gosh ... they are together. I had no idea they were together," she said, referring to her husband's pilot's name, Ernest De Soto, whose remains were also found in the same spot as her husband's.
"He's finally home, and he wants you to know that," Jeri McMahon, a volunteer who showed Coffey her husband's name at the wall, said.
Coffey said she had always wanted to go see the wall but just never got the opportunity.
"Certain circumstances in life had kept me from going, so this is a huge, huge thing for me," she said.
People who visit the wall usually get rubs of the names, where a thin sheet is pressed against the wall to get a copy of names. Due to all the rain on Oct. 14, special arrangements were made for Coffey a day earlier.
"An officer went and did the rub for me yesterday. Wasn't that special?" she said.
Want to learn more?
To learn more and to fill out an application as a guardian or veteran for future flights, visit blueridgehonorflight.com/apply-now or call the office at 828-776-0650.
Guardians pay $400 each to escort a veteran. Veterans fly for free. Flights are funded by donations from individuals, corporations, foundations, schools, military organizations and other fraternal organizations. No funding is received from the government for the flights. Anyone wishing to make donations can go to blueridgehonorflight.com/donate.
The flights are twice a year, with one in the spring and one in the fall. The 2024 flight dates haven't yet been scheduled.
Dean Hensley is the news editor for the Hendersonville Times-News. Email him with tips, questions and comments at DHensley@gannett.com. Please help support this kind of local journalism with a subscription to the Hendersonville Times-News.
This article originally appeared on Hendersonville Times-News: Vietnam veteran whose remains just found wife takes D.C. Honor Flight
