"He had my back many times," Middaugh said as the two awaited surgery last week at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center. "So this is payback time."

"We got through Vietnam. We'll get through this," Warner said.

Both are 73 years old, served in Vietnam together and received Purple Hearts for their service.

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Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth, among others, will no longer be considered fee-free days at U.S. National Parks. While the MLK National Historic Park in Atlanta doesn't charge admission, the new schedule will affect such metro Atlanta sites as Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park. (Miguel Martinez/AJC)

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez

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Ceudy Gutierrez reads a book to her 2-year-old son, Matias, at their home in Buford, GA, on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025. Ceudy Gutierrez is struggling to make ends meet for herself and her three young kids following her husband’s ICE arrest earlier this fall. (Miguel Martinez/ AJC)

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez