Three years after he graduated from Castle High School, Wallace Soeda joined the Air Force to fight in the Vietnam War. “He served his country and he was very proud of it,” his wife, Bianca, said.

Soeda was a staff sergeant in charge of supplies.

“He was at two bases in Thailand that were known and acknowledged to have had herbicides and defoliants used to clear the vegetation in those areas,” said his son, Mark.

Soeda’s family said he was exposed to Agent Orange and other chemicals.