Veterans Day wass a time to honor heroes.  For Hawaii veteran Patrick Manijo, Veterans Day wass also a painful reminder of the ultimate sacrifice from a fellow soldier -- a soldier Manijo now fights for.

The Vietnam War ended long ago, but that conflict has stayed with Manijo, who served with the 5th Cavalry, 1st battalion, Charlie Company.

"Looking at me on the outside I look OK, but on the inside I'm all messed up," said Manijo.

Part of that is because of what happened on May 9th, 1968.

"The mortars exploded down the line to my left. Right there, all hell broke loose. There was small arms fire, mortars exploding, everything just started erupting," said Manijo.

The battle of Quang Tri was one of the deadliest battles of the war.

"We went in there with 180 men, we came out with 20," said Manijo.

Fighting near Patrick, was Peter Olivo. Olivo was wounded while protecting the line of soldiers, then injured again when he tossed Manijo more ammo during that deadly day.

"I started yelling for the medic and he kept waving the medic off. He could have left, but if he did he knew we would be overrun. So he knew he was dying and he stayed on the gun and kept fighting until he died," said Manijo.
 
Heroic efforts that could have earned Olivo the Medal of Honor, if those acts of heroism were ever told.

After that fateful battle, Manijo said he couldn't talk about what happened, especially to Peter's mother or father, even though he had made a promise to Olivo just one day before he died.

"Pete says if you go home first, you see my family and if I go home first I'll see your family.  I said OK, but don't worry about it cause we're going to go home together," said Manijo.

Instead for 40 years, Manijo carried with him the guilt of surviving when so many others died and the knowledge that Olivo's actions were worthy of more than just the Bronze star he received.

Manijo finally shared that story, two years ago with Olivo's younger sisters. It was difficult to do, he said, because he had to re-live the horrors of the Vietnam War.   
 
"I found it made me worse. I'm not going to find healing, not at this time," said Manijo.

One day, Manijo hopes he will be able to tell his fellow fallen soldiers, including Olivo, that he is finally finished with the war.

"To carry all this for 44 years is really hard. I want to go to the Vietnam Wall in Washington, see the names of C Company, touch their names and tell them it is over for me," said Manijo.

It took Manijo 40 years to keep his promise because while he recovered from his injuries on the mainland, he was on burial duty. There he watched a mother grieve over the coffin of another soldier.

She then turned to him and said, "It should be you in here instead of my son."
Manijo feared hearing those same words from Olivo's mother.

Since telling the Olivo family, Manijo has pushed for his fallen friend to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor.