BATON ROUGE — A Navy veteran who served during the Vietnam War traveled to Washington, D.C. in April to see memorials built as a tribute to U.S. military men and women who served and sacrificed.

Charles Buddy Metz joined the Navy in 1966 and served for four years. He was 19 when he enlisted in New Orleans. That same day, when he got home from the recruiting office, Metz found his draft notification had arrived in the mail.

"Went through the whole thing, blood shots, blood draws, pills, walk out...you're in the Navy," Metz said.

Metz worked as a radio man on board the Navy destroyer Robert K. Huntington DD781. He used teletype machines to transmit messages between U.S. ships using a special code to hide the real message from the enemy.

"We'd go through them, they'd be classified matters; as they come in, we would tear them off, read, bring it on a message board up to the captain or whoever was receiving on the ship at the time they sign it, then you file it," Metz said.

Metz never put boots on the ground but said he still never let his guard down.

"It was scary, you didn't know what you were doing, no idea what was going on; we thought we knew," he said.

On April 11, Metz traveled with Honor Flight Louisiana to Washington, D.C. In all, the nonprofit flew 76 Louisiana veterans to the nation's capital for free.

Metz had traveled there several times on his own but found this trip carried extra emotion. He saw and now understands the incredible impact it has on others.

"Sometimes one person may have a reaction to one situation where nobody else will have it, and how emotional everybody can get...because it can bring back a lot of memories," Metz said.

He is moved every time he sees the Korean War Monument.

"It's nothing but bronze statues of soldiers walking, and I don't know why it affects me more than a big, pretty picture saying thank you for your service... it's just you know... it's what they look like and what they did," Metz said.

Metz said he enjoyed meeting so many Louisiana veterans, a new community of friendship and brotherhood.

After landing back in Baton Rouge, friends and family surprised him with an emotional welcome home.