Nearly 60 years ago Charlie Pennington enlisted in the army. A pilot, he volunteered to fly medical evacuation helicopters – unarmed vehicles that went by the call sign Dust Off. He did his medical training at Fort Sam Houston in Texas where he met Terri. The two quickly fell in love and married and began a year that he would call the best of his life, and Terri would call the worst of hers.

Charlie, now 82, served a tour in Vietnam and then a second tour in Korea to be with Terri who worked as a nurse in an Army hospital.

The couple moved to Florence in 2000. They are proud of their service while also conflicted about the value of the war in Vietnam. But as Terri, 78, said, “Life goes on. And you deal with the cards you’re dealt.”