Midway Magic Continues to Triumph in 2023 It’s been a pleasure over the past 12 months to again share with the readers of San Diego Veterans Magazine stories from the deck plates of the USS Midway Museum. This has been an incredible year full of major historic military milestones and anniversaries, and there was none bigger than the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War and return of the prisoners of war. In March, the Midway was honored to publicly pay tribute to all Vietnam War veterans, as well as their families and our South Vietnamese allies during a poignant commemoration ceremony on the flight deck. “We were not treated very well when we came back,” remembered Bob “Doc” Werner, a Midway docent with more than 3,000 volunteer hours. “I personally was spat on and was called some very nasty names when I came back from Vietnam.” Werner was a combat corpsman assigned to a Marine Corps unit deployed to Vietnam. He was wounded multiple times while saving the lives of countless Marines. For his bravery and the wounds he suffered in battle, this American hero was awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. “It’s wonderful, finally, that 50 years later we’re finally being recognized for the sacrifices that we all made during the war. The ceremony on the Midway was very special.” Midway saw the return of former crewmember Don Vance, who served on the carrier five decades ago. There are currently nearly 100 former Midway sailors volunteering at the museum.
8 WWW.SanDiegoVeteransMagazine.com / December 2023
Vance arrived on Midway during its final Vietnam War deployment as the ship’s senior medical officer in 1972. More than 50 years later, Vance returned to where he first cut his teeth as a flight surgeon in the fleet when he became a volunteer on the USS Midway Museum earlier this year. “I have always wanted to volunteer,” said Vance, who even visited the ship soon after its arrival in San Diego to become a museum. “Unfortunately, due to my work, I didn’t have the time to volunteer until I was more retired.” Although he has only recently started volunteering for the museum’s safety department, Vance is thrilled to once again be part of Midway’s crew. “It’s hard to explain fully, but I’m so proud of the Midway,” said Vance, who already has nearly 300 volunteer hours under his belt. “They did such a great job turning it into a museum. She’s an incredible ship and it’s good to be back on board.” One of the museum’s greatest and most unique assets is its ability to bring naval aviation history to life through firsthand stories of adventures on the high seas told by the ship’s volunteers. At Midway, storytelling is more than simply a way to communicate, and over the last 20 years it has been elevated to an artform. “Storytelling is an important way to educate our guests because it captures their interest in inspirational ways,” said Paul“Chappie” Ward, a Midway docent with more than 7,400 volunteer hours. “I love the moment when something said connects with something seen and explained. You can literally see that eureka moment when you have touched a chord of appreciation or understanding. That moment is when I know that the story shared has made an incredible impact.”