One peek into Army veteran Steve Bookout’s Newton home gives a glimpse into the two tours of duty he served during the Vietnam War: At his computer desk sits an armored seat, stripped from a helicopter much like the ones he used to fly.

His basement houses two helicopter doors, emblazoned with a red wild boar, the symbol of the Razorbacks gun squad, and a photo of Gen. William Westmoreland hangs on a wall, a personalized inscription scrawled at the bottom.

While each of these alone conveys plenty about Bookout’s service during the Vietnam war, none fully tell his story, which began with his high school graduation.