FINDLAY, Ohio — In June, Bruce Hardy and Ron Badyna were among 83 Vietnam War veterans to take part in Flag City Honor Flight. They expected a day spent seeing the memorials in Washington, D.C. and bonding with other veterans.
The last thing they expected was to be reunited 51 years after their tour in Vietnam.
While Badyna returned home to northwest Ohio after the war, Hardy had grown up in Wyoming. He worked for Marathon and later moved to northwest Ohio.
During the day on Honor Flight, Hardy saw Badyna's name tag and said it reminded him of a soldier who was in his squad in 1971 near the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone.
So Hardy asked Badyna a question: “Do you remember one of squad leaders was nicknamed 'Sergeant Rock?'" Hardy said. "And Ron’s expression was 'oh, my God' and I said 'yeah, I’m Sergeant Rock.' Then we embraced for probably half a minute and he knew I was his squad leader after. But it's been 51 years.”
But another name helped spark the connection. Hardy mentioned Don Hanzlik, a close friend of Badyna's during the war.
"That's what really clicked," Badyna said. "I said 'you got the right guy.'"
Both Hardy and Badyna were drafted into the Army. Hardy's mother urged him to go to Canada rather than serve, but his father felt otherwise. His father was concerned if he went to Canada, he'd never be able to come back.
So Hardy decided.
"I said 'I’ve given this a lot of thought. I am going to Vietnam. I have reservations why we are there, why we are fighting a war there, but I am honoring this country,'" Hardy said. "'They want me to serve and that’s what I will do.'”
Badyna was drafted and came from a military family, too.
While Vietnam was in an unpopular war, both felt a duty to answer the call to serve.
To this day, they have no regrets. Badyna returned home to Toledo with a bronze star and a Purple Heart.
“When I look back and all the experiences I went through, I look at it now and it seems like a big dream, just like it never happened," Badyna said. "It’s unbelievable like it never happened."
Now living in Findlay, Hardy works part-time for the Hancock County Veterans Service Commission.
Badyna said he enjoyed his time on Flag City Honor Flight so much, he plans to volunteer to go again as a guardian. And after 51 years, the two plan to get together for lunch now and then.