ST. LOUIS — On Memorial Day, we honor the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice.
In 1970, we were in the middle of the Vietnam War. In the same year, the Blues were fighting for a Stanley Cup.
All these years later, Vietnam veterans take a walk down memory lane, as the Blues make a comeback.
"Go Blues, play Gloria please!" one veteran pleaded.
5 On Your Side also spoke to another veteran, Dan Heckstetter, a St. Louis native who was drafted at 19 years old. Once in Vietnam, he didn't live in a tent, he lived underground. Since they didn't have much, they would add decor items here and there to remind them of home.
"Sports were a real good distraction because we had nothing," Heckstetter said. "Everybody had their little city things and the biggest thing for us was the Cardinals because they were winning World Series and things like that and the Blues were just getting started."
The Blues franchise was founded in 1967 and they made it to the cup three times in a row after that.
But it was tough for our soldiers to have an idea of what was going on.
"There was no communication, we wrote letter homes, you had to put free to mail your letters home for free," Heckstetter added.
But Heckstetter found a way to get his hands on a recorded reel of a St. Louis radio station to play on their open tape records.
"We would sit around at night listen and have a little party and have our two beers a day," he said.
Veterans just like Heckstetter show true commitment to our country. While there's no comparison, Heckstetter gave advice to the Blues, who are also going to battle against the Bruins.
"In the back of their mind they know what they are going for," he said. "I would say in Vietnam we knew what we were going for and trying to get through it."