South Bend veteran Thomas Tyks reflects on his service

You might recognize one of the veterans headed to Washington DC to visit the Vietnam Memorial Wall. Thomas and Marietta Tyks were in a video of a prank that went viral.

Thomas Tyks is a proud Marine Corps veteran. He joined the service in 1960 the day before his 18th birthday.

He left the service in 1964. He has never been to the Vietnam Memorial Wall in DC.

“I’m looking forward to seeing some of the names of the guys that I’ve been in it with. I know some are on the wall," Thomas said. “I hear the cliche, well it’s going to bring us closure. No it can’t bring closure. It brings back memories: some good, some bad."

There are some memories he would rather forget.

“Those that we lost over there, we didn’t lose them, they were killed," Thomas said.

He looks at his service as the opportunity of a lifetime.

“How many people have been to Japan, Okinawa, Korea, Thailand. Laos, Vietnam, the Philippines, Jamaica, Haiti, Cuba? Not very many. And those of us that have, that’s why I’m being able to sit here and wear this hat and why I’ve got those red white and blue flags out in the yard," Thomas said.