DuPont Mayor, Resident invited to join San Diego to Washington D.C. Honor Flight

Mayor Ron Frederick and DuPont resident Larry Metzler, Captain, USN (Ret), have been invited to travel on a special San Diego Honor Flight to Washington D.C., April 26-28. This is a first of its kind Honor Flight as it includes only Navy Veterans who participated in Naval Special Warfare combat operations during the Vietnam War. Mayor Frederick and Captain Metzler both graduated from Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training class 52 in Coronado, California, in 1969. After training, Mayor Frederick was assigned to an East Coast team and Captain Metzler to a West Coast team, but they would meet again in Vietnam in 1971 when both were assigned to the same forward fire base in Vietnam called Solid Anchor. They both participated in combat operations against the Viet Cong in the Mekong Delta.

In 2022, Captain Metzler moved to DuPont, Washington, to be close to his children and grandchildren living in the Puget Sound area. Much to his surprise, the mayor of his new city turned out to be his old BUD/S classmate and fellow Vietnam Veteran, Ron Frederick. You can sometimes find Ron and Larry sharing stories at McNamara’s Pub in DuPont.