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Visit the Viet Nam Memorial Wall replica

Captain Norbert Podhajsky in flight gear. -Photo courtesy of Marcella (Podhajsky) Pults

“The Wall That Heals” – a half size replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. will be hosted by AMVETS Post 49 (1934 Irving Street) in Cedar Falls from tomorrow- Thursday, May 18, through 3 p.m. on Sunday, May 21. will be the only Iowa stop this year.

The wall now also includes an educational exhibit which was not part of earlier visits to Iowa.

Capt. Norbert

Podhajsky killed

in Vietnam

The following is about one of 11 Tama County veterans who lost their life in Viet Nam and is listed on the Wall:

U. S. Air Force Captain Norbert Albert Podhajsky is one of four veterans from Toledo, Iowa killed in Vietnam. He was born August 16, 1943 and is the son of Albert H. (1916-1966) and Agnes M. (1917-2014) (Dvorak) Podhajsky. The Podhajsky children are: Dorothy, Norbert, Lee, Ron and Jean.

Norbert graduated from Toledo High School in 1961. He received an A.A. degree in 1963 from Marshalltown Community College and a B.A. degree in political science in 1965 from the University of Iowa in Iowa City. He was an active member of Delta Chi.

In 1967, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Air Force upon completion of Officer Training School at Lackland AFB, Texas. In the spring of 1968, he was awarded U.S. Air Force silver pilot wings upon graduation at Reese AFB, Texas.

After receiving his wings, Norbert was assigned to Dover AFB, Delaware, for flying duty with the Military Airlift Command. In Vietnam, he had been instructing pilots in the South Vietnamese Air Force.

During his service in Southeast Asia, Capt. Podhajsky earned a “311th Air Command Squadron 1000 Combat Sorties” patch. He was scheduled to end his 10 month tour of duty on December 2, 1970 and fly back to the States from Saigon. On November 29, 1970, he elected to fly to Saigon as a backup crew member on an American C-123 transport plane from Nihn Thuan Province in South Vietnam. The plane crashed shortly after takeoff. His family, awaiting his return, was initially told that he was missing in action. Weeks later his body was recovered from the crash site and sent back to Iowa.

At the time of his death, Capt. Podhajsky had been married four years to the former Phyllis Foster of Oskaloosa, Iowa. The couple had no children.

Capt. Podhajsky is buried in Holy Trinity Catholic Cemetery northeast of Toledo next to his father who preceded him in death. Posthumously, Capt. Podhajsky was awarded the Air Medal (First through Third Oak Leaf Cluster). His name appears on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D. C. on panel 06W and line number 094. (See www.vvmf.org)