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Vietnam veteran hat sparks love story
Wearing your military service on a hat, t-shirt or tattoo is for veterans an honor and a display of pride. It also gives strangers a window of opportunity. FOX 13's Allie Corey reports.
TAMPA, Fla. - A conversation sparked by a military service cap at a Sam's Club fuel island blossomed into marriage and an emotional healing journey to Washington for two Tampa Bay area veterans.
Bay Area veterans find love
The backstory:
Laughter fills the Sun City home of 80-year-old Freddie Smith and his bride, Army veteran Dr. Kaffie Clarke. Their romance began at a Sam's Club gas pump when Clarke spotted the Vietnam Veteran hat Smith wore while fueling his vehicle.
"That's one of the things I love about him. He was crying at the wedding," Clarke said.
Smith laughed, "She was wiping my tears."
"She saw the cap, so she started a conversation," Smith said.
"That was January of '25, and we were married July '25," Clarke said.
She explained, "You know military, we just find connections."
"I don't fear anything, I can do it," Smith said.
Surviving combat in Vietnam
Local perspective:
Smith served with the 25th Infantry Division, known as the Tropic Lightning, shipping out on a 16-day voyage after Schofield Barracks in Hawaii shut down.
"What happened once we shipped out and went to Vietnam and that beach landing that was a different animal," he said.
"That was a great awakening for me to survive that. I mean my heart was about to jump out of my chest," Smith said.
"I had an M-60 machine gun. I had an M-14 rifle and my duffle bag, and I'm in combat boots on the beach running, and we could hear gunfire out in the jungle. I was 19 at that time, having never been out of the state of Florida. That was frightening," Smith said.
Smith hauled troops to frontline danger zones in a deuce and a half truck.
"So we hauled the troops out and dropped them off and after the fight we go out and get what's left and bring them back," he said.
"It was rough. It was rough seeing guys that you know who you consider friends, your buddies, and when you go back to pick them up, they're not there," Smith said.
Clarke was stationed at Fort Ord in California during an era when the military only allowed women to serve in Vietnam as nurses and medical personnel.
"Everything I endured, it helped to shape me and the discipline that I learned, and I went on to start to empower others," Clarke said.
Honor Flight milestone trip
What they're saying:
The couple signed up after finding out by chance about the Honor Flight of West Central Florida. The trip marked the 4,000th veteran brought to Washington to see the war memorials, with many participants waiting more than a year to attend.
Smith and Clarke toured the national monuments alongside 70 other Tampa Bay area veterans.
"I am doing everything I can not to be teary, but this is just epic. It means so much to be able to see it for real. I'm so honored right now. It's so much harder than I thought it would be," Clarke said while standing at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall.
Smith searched the granite panels and located the name of a fallen close friend.
"This is very emotional, and I don't want to see all of these young men who died for something that the culmination was less than what we had expected," Smith said.
"Emotional and inspiring to see all the effort that went into this and the people that participate. It says to me that you're not alone, because I felt at one point that nobody understood, nobody cared," Smith said.
Healing invisible battle wounds
Big picture view:
Veterans faced painful battles upon returning home from the war overseas.
"We didn't know if we had GI benefits. We didn't know we could go to the VA. They told us nothing, it was horrible," Clarke said.
Clarke earned a doctorate in human sexuality and returned to the Army as a civilian a decade ago to work with the SHARP program for sexual harassment survivors.
"I became the voice for mental health," said Clarke, who now operates her own private practice.
Smith drove for FedEx for 30 years and now spends his time delivering prescription medication to the elderly.
"I'm still a patriot. I love my country and everything that I've gone through, I'd do it all over again, and I would be better at it this time around," Smith said.
After 50 years, the couple returned home to cheering crowds and the hero's welcome they earned.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered from Freddie Smith and Dr. Kaffie Clarke, who shared their military service, meeting, and flight experience, as well as Honor Flight of West Central Florida.