He's passionate about America, his service time and enjoying life.

Don Navaroli served two tours of duty in Vietnam from 1966 through 1968.

He had the difficult job of flying helicopters into danger zones.

He told Erie News Now, "I've had the greatest feeling in the world, being shot at and missed. As a 19 year-old, you think of it as the wild, wild west and getting hurt never enters your mind."

He's owned Legends Restaurant in Warren, Pa. for three decades.

There are constant reminders on the kitchen wall of his establishment, of what he experienced in Vietnam.

"We would have to go and pick-up the dead and put them in body bags. One time, I had to pick-up a friend and I did my best to stop the bleeding, but he didn't make it."

He's been to the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C. 

Navaroli always looks for the names of 14 people he served with, who didn't make it home.  

"It's given me some closure and a chance to move on."

Vietnam Reflections runs every Thursday on Erie News Now at 6 and 11:00 p.m.

The series will run until January of 2023.