 If you watch Common Ground online, consider becoming a member or making a donation at lptv.org. Lakeland PBS presents Common Ground, brought to you by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota. Late April of 2017, Vietnam veteran helicopter pilot and author Jim Krigler invited me to film him at Itasca State Park as he began a canoe journey of the Mississippi River. His endeavor was to raise awareness of Gold Star families. American Gold Star families are immediate relatives of members of the U.S. armed forces who have been killed in combat or in support of certain military activities. The air at Itasca was just above freezing, but Jim's mood was warm. Alright, let's bring her down. It's named after my daughter Libby, beautiful girl, sometimes cantankerous. We're going to fit everything in there quite nicely. Alright, we're going. Follow me. Oh Bob, hi, oh my goodness. That's okay, how's it going? Good to see you man. Give me a help there. You know what, if you grab a couple of paddles and follow me down, appreciate it. Well, that's a member of the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association. He came up to wish me off. His name is Bob Godar. I think he's down at Park Rapids. It's a beautiful morning out here. I think it's a crisp 38 degrees springtime in Minnesota. You couldn't ask for a better time to be out in the woods. Alright, halfway. It's all downhill from here. Jim Krigler, sir. Kelly Bold. Kelly, nice to meet you. Oh, I'm honored. Oh, was I on the news? Oh, I hope I sounded good. Good, well, I didn't expect you guys out here, but I can't tell you how appreciative I am of this. And one of the things I've discovered is, you know, there's no database of Vietnam Gold Star families. And so I'm dependent on the VFWs as they go down and maybe the American legions. You've put the flags up here. We got this beautiful morning here. You know, I'm just honored that you guys would all show up. I didn't expect this. I expected Bruce and I was going to apologize to you. Now I got to apologize to everybody. Oh, I got a poppy for my hat, too. That's awesome. Thank you so much. I'll put this poppy in there. It was a day before yesterday and I was in downtown Chicago and his name was Father John. And he gave me a blessing that was beyond blessings. I mean, I've got angels above me and on the side of me and an archangel behind me protecting me, according to Father John. So, but if I could just say a few words, if you guys don't mind. Lord, we appreciate this beautiful day and as we begin this journey, we hope that we can touch the lives of many, many Gold Star families, especially Vietnam Gold Star families. And I appreciate any support that you can give me along the way. And this is a good example of that support. These veterans have come out here to support me in Jesus' name. Thank you. So, the beautiful 38 degree water here. It's the beginning of the Mississippi. It's just a gorgeous, gorgeous piece of water. I'm going to take a trip and I'll put my paddle in and start paddling right there. And the first day is going to be a difficult one. But I don't really care what the sacrifice is because it's nothing compared to what our soldiers and our Gold Star, especially Vietnam Gold Star families have been through. So, I'm willing to make the sacrifice. And for those of you that are watching this video in the future, please find it in your hearts to reach out and contact the Gold Star family and thank them for that sacrifice. Because every paddle stroke that I make on this river for the next 2,250 miles is going to be to honor those folks. And I would very much appreciate your support. So, let's get this show on the road. You've got to be in this picture too, Murray. I'm Jim Kriegler. I'm an ex-Vietnam helicopter pilot. And in 1972, I was in combat in Vietnam. And I had a wonderful roommate named First Lieutenant Tom Shaw. And Tom and I became very close. He became my mentor like an older brother. And the two of us had a pact between us that if one of us was killed in combat, that the other one would escort their body back to the United States. And I was both honored and burdened with that duty. But it was the first time that I met a Gold Star family. It was in May of 1972 when I met Tom's wife and his mom and his dad and his brothers and his sisters. Although it was the toughest mission for me during the war, it wasn't even 10 times as tough as it was for that family and all the rest of the Vietnam Gold Star families that lost sons in that war. And during the last 5 years, I've had the opportunity to talk to a lot of Gold Star families. And the story is always the same, Scott. It's always we received a devastating telegram or a knock on the door. And about a week or so later, we got a coffin with our son in it and a neatly folded American flag. We buried our son and then we never talked about it again. I've heard that so many times, I can't tell you. So I decided to do something about it. I decided to go find all the Gold Star families in my community that I could. But I found some of them in the surrounding area. And I gave about 20 honor coins out to those families. And with each one, I put that coin in their hand and told them I thanked them and honored their sacrifice. And then I hoped they'd keep that coin and remember that there are thousands of Americans that appreciate and honor their sacrifice. None of them could speak to me. They were all overcome with emotion. It took us both a minute. I'm getting emotional just talking about it. It took us a minute to recoup our emotions and then they were able to talk to me. But the reason they got so emotional is that in 45 years, no American citizen has thanked them for that sacrifice. 45 years. So I'm on a mission today and I'm doing something totally audacious. Most 67 year old guys would never consider paddling for 2250 miles to make a statement. But I'm making a statement and I want to wake up some people in America and I want to cause a movement to happen. I would like those of you that are watching this video to go to your VFW or go to your American Legion and ask them who are the Gold Star families in our community. Especially the Vietnam Gold Star families. Who are they? How can I get in touch with them? And go out and get a 49 cent stamp and an envelope and a little piece of paper and write them a thank you note for that sacrifice. Tell them how much you appreciate the freedoms that you have today because their son or daughter died for those freedoms. And make a difference in these people. They deserve some honor. I'm a little nervous right now because it's like a race. You know how you get nervous right before a road race? So it's kind of like you want to get yourself going. But I don't want to go too fast because it's more important to have everything that I want on board. I can't stop at a store. So hopefully I'll be an expert in this canoe in about 30 miles. And hopefully I don't tip it in front of you. We'll see. This is a book that I just finished. It's about my time in Vietnam. I am donating some of the proceeds. I got to pay for the book. But besides that I'm donating the proceeds to my charity 501C3 American Huey 369. The book is called Mission of Honor. And you know mistakes in life, they make the best stories. And this is about mistakes that I made as a young man. And meeting my roommate Tom Shaw that I mentioned earlier. And a sort of a moral compass that Tom gave me in life. That I've used to navigate through those forks in the road that we go through. And it's also about my time in Vietnam and it has a message for America. So if you're interested, missionofhonor.org. As a website you can buy it there. You can also buy it on Amazon. And again proceeds go to a very, very good cause. So appreciate your support there. These are my snacks. This is a good one. Hey Bruce. I don't have enough to give one to everybody. I'm sorry. But I'm going to give one to you for the ride. And I'm giving one to you for coming down here. Maybe you could pass it around to these guys. I'm not the hero in this book. Somebody else is. I made a lot of mistakes in my life. You know when you're 20 they're usually not little mistakes. They're big mistakes. And I was 20 and they turned into for me anyway a moral kind of a moral dilemma. And I had a want my roommate who was killed in action over there was wonderful guy. And he shared with me his moral compass on life. And I don't mind telling you what it was. What he said was we're all coming to forks in the road of life and which fork we choose determines what our life is going to be. And the easy fork is not always the one we got to take. So you got to have courage to take that fork. You got to do the right thing. You got to focus on what's right, not what's wrong. You got to tell the truth. You got to be truthful to yourself and other people. You got to trust in God. And that's his compass. And he gave that to me. And I've used it in my life and I use it to solve my own moral dilemma. But he's a hero in that book. Not me. But thank you for coming sir. Thank you so much. I appreciate all you guys coming. Thanks Kelly. Here. That's true. Make sure it works. Works great. Make a difference in some lives of some Gold Star families buddy. That's pretty much it. If you watch Common Ground online, consider becoming a member or making a donation at lptv.org.