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Carry the Load: Vietnam Veteran Damien Messino — Forever 19

May 14, 2025

Fox 10

Like so many conflicts — Vietnam is hard to look back on. Of those who went to serve — Damien Messino — is among the many never came home. Forever 19 — his sister Daria remembers when he left in 1969.

“I remember that my mother was very scared. This was her only son. The oldest child,” recalled Daria Messino.

Daria now resides in Pensacola, but grew up just outside Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. After a stop at the Great Lakes U.S. Naval Training Center — Damien trained as a medic — was shipped off. Then 13-years-old — Daria recalls receiving letters from the frontlines.

“Mine were a little light-hearted — like kind of telling me to behave and not to stress out mom,” said Daria.

Just two days after Christmas — her mother’s worst fear would come true — Damien had only been gone a few months.

“They were out on patrol and I guess being a medic they were looking for injured and the point person stepped on a land mine. So, he had been hit with strapnel in the head,” said Daria.

It’s stories like Damien’s — that fuels the mission of non-profit “Carry the Load” — the grassroots effort taking its campaign across the nation to honor and remember the men and women killed in action.

Even though she never met her uncle — Damien’s niece Melissa Owens — knows he died fighting for what he believed in.

“I grew up with stories about him. I will tell anyone who holds still long enough – my uncle’s time in the service is the single thing that I’m both proudest of and the saddest about,” explained Melissa.

While Damien was laid to rest in their hometown — there are reminders of his sacrifice. An etching from the Pensacola’s Vietnam Memorial hangs in their living room.

“I think people forget — and it might sound corny — that freedom isn’t free. There’s something deeper to the day,” said Daria.

According to Daria — Damien was looking forward to becoming a pharmacist or doctor when he returned home from the war.

The Carry the Load event in Mobile is at Battleship Memorial Park on Tuesday, May 20th. There are also several events that day in Pensacola.

Watch the segment here.

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Carry the Load: Vietnam Veteran Damien Messino — Forever 19

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