SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Sitting in a room in the back of a hotel in Scottsdale, Gil Carrillo scrolls through his iPad. The pictures flash across the screen as he picks one out, filled with men in military uniforms standing in front of a helicopter.
“I’m right here,” Carrillo said, pointing at a young man with dark hair three in from the left on the first standing row.
The picture is from Carrillo’s time serving in the Vietnam War. In the same photo, Carrillo picks out another man, kneeling in the front row.
“That’s Captain Tom, right there. Tom Stempky,” Carrillo said.
Carrillo shares how Stempky was his platoon leader in the 189th Assault Helicopter Company. They flew gunships together during the war.
“It was so important to me to thank him for what he did for me,” Carrillo said.
While Carrillo came to the Valley for a speaking engagement from California, he’s waiting this particular day in a back room of a hotel for Stempky.
The two have only talked via phone, and haven’t seen each other in person since they left Vietnam 53 years ago.
They reconnected after Carrillo connected with Stempky’s wife, Vicki, over social media.
But it happened to work out, that Stempky and his family were traveling through the Valley visiting friends on the very same day Carrillo was in town.
So after 53 years, the men were reunited.
Reunited
“Hey!,” Carrillo said surprised as Stempky comes walking into the room.
The two immediately embrace, holding onto each other, slapping each other on the back for more than ten seconds. Subtle sobs creep out of the men, now decades past their servicemember days.
The two pull back from each other.
“It’s good to be alive,” Stempky said.
The men each wipe their eyes.
They both each have children and grandchildren of their own successful careers.
“God you look good,” Carrillo said. “What happened to me?”
The men immediately start laughing.
In the war
Decades back, Carrillo said he went to Vietnam at 18 years old after his parents signed for him to go into the military, following a police officer telling them their son needed to "get off the streets."
Stempky said he was drafted from his home state of Michigan at 18 years old and quickly shipped out to Kentucky. Stempky said after a little over a year of going through Officer Candidate School, Special Forces School, Ranger School and Flight School. He was then sent to Vietnam.
“The next thing that happened to me, the guy before me lost his life,” Stempky said. "And they said to me, ‘You’re going to be the next platoon leader.’ And I said, ‘What?!’”
Carrillo talks about how Stempky naturally led the platoon by using humor to deliver the message he needed to.
“He has no idea how much love and respect I have for him,” Carrillo said.
The two formed a bond few understand well. Stempky said it stems from a shared desire and goal to stay alive.
“That’s what happens in combat,” Stempky said. “You become closer than your wife, or your best friend because when you’re in a situation and you may not get out of it, you don’t forget it.”
The two share stories of their time in combat through the dedication they had for each other and the platoon, the struggles they faced, and the luck they had.
“When we cranked up that stupid helicopter, the chances were 50/50 at best that we were going to get back that day,” Stempky said.
“I remember thinking with the B’s fully loaded, ‘Are we even going to get off the ground?’ bouncing that thing across the tarmac,” Carrillo said.
The two talk about how grateful they are. Grateful for the people they served beside and the fact they made it back home.
“The Lord blessed us,” Stempky said. “That’s how we’re alive. God blessed us.”
“Amen," Carrillo said.
The two don’t exactly have plans for when they might see each other next. Carrillo joked they wouldn’t wait 53 years, but maybe 52 years next time. But they’re grateful for the time together now, and back then.
“I wouldn’t change any of it either,” Carrillo said. “I’d do the same thing all over again.”
“The quality of people that we were with in Vietnam. You couldn’t hide anything. You had to be out there,” Stempky said.
“We were committed,” Stempky added. “We said we’re going to do it, and that’s probably what helped us a lot.”
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