Maj. (Ret.) Penny Grossman served 21 years on active duty as a U.S. Air Force nurse. In 1973, she was stationed at Clark Air Base in the Philippines during Operation Homecoming, when nearly 600 American prisoners of war were released. The first leg of their return took them from Hanoi to Clark, where Grossman witnessed their first steps of freedom. As of October 2023, she had not spoken of those difficult memories in 50 years.