LOUISVILLE, Ky. — For Dennis Strope, memories of Vietnam are never far away. The 77-year-old veteran, who served as a combat photographer with the U.S. Army from 1967 to 1968, is now preparing for a journey he’s been waiting years to make: an Honor Flight Bluegrass trip to Washington, D.C.

The trip will take him to the nation’s capital to visit memorials built in his honor, including the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, a wall etched with the names of more than 58,000 service members who never made it home.

“I’ll break down because I’m a big old slushie anyway,” Strope said. “But that wall, it’ll hit me hard. I know at least two from my high school on it, a couple of cousins. I’m going to honor my friends.”

A Photographer in War

Drafted in 1967, Strope wanted to work in media, so the Army

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