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Terminally ill Army vet to visit Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Posted June 07, 2018 7:00 am

The Associated Press

MARION, Ill. (AP) - A terminally ill Army veteran from southern Illinois will be flown to Washington to visit the Vietnam Veterans Memorial to honor a deceased friend who served with him in the military.

Veterans Affairs and the Santa Barbara, California-based Dream Foundation are sending 69-year-old Edwin Vega to the memorial. Vega, who suffers from liver cancer, was stationed from 1968-1970 in Vietnam.

The memorial includes the names of more than 58,000 servicemen and women who died during the war in Vietnam. Vega's friend died after the war.

A brief ceremony will be held for Vega Friday morning at the Community Living Center on the campus of the Marion VA Healthcare System. A motorcycle club will escort him to Lambert International Airport in St. Louis.

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