‘You don’t forget. You never forget.’ Just about five years ago, in late 2009, Wausau’s Jim Campbell and Mike Thompson read about an organization called Honor Flight that collected donations and sent World War II vets on free trips to Washington to visit war memorials. Veterans themselves, Campbell and Thompson investigated and determined that they would do the same for central Wisconsin veterans. They took a chance and signed a lease to rent a jumbo jet, and put out the word that they were searching for volunteers and donors. What happened next astounded them. “I literally got $10 bills stapled to letters and $25,000 checks,” Campbell said four years ago, as the first Never Forgotten Honor Flight was heading for D.C. with a load of 103 World War II veterans. “Almost everywhere we went, people
said yes. We had family reunions that collected money and donated it. We had all the students at Horace Mann Middle School in Wausau give us a check. And they raised enough to pay for one of these veterans to come.” It wasn’t the last time Campbell would be astounded by reaction to the trips. On that first journey, the group visited Arlington National Cemetery and came upon a group of students from, of all places, Sturgeon Bay. The students formed a receiving line of sorts, lining both sides of a path at the cemetery path 50 yards. They were joined by another student group, and then by other tourists and passersby. As the veterans filed past, the students applauded, shook hands, hugged and in many cases, sobbed with the old soldiers. The soldiers sobbed, too. Such events have transpired on every Honor Flight trip since, etching memories in the minds of veterans and volunteers who accompany them. Another Honor Flight is headed to D.C. this week, this one comprising mostly veterans of the Korean Conflict. We salute them, and hope they return with equally moving memories.
Our Quality is Worth The Stop! • Steaks - fresh hand-cut 1855 aged to perfection • Brats - 18-24 different flavors. made in-house • Fresh seafood • Chicken • 100 types of Wisconsin artisan cheeses • Homemade deli salads • Hard-to-find grocery items
4516 Rib Mountain Drive, Wausau • 715-870-2136 Monday-Friday 10-6, Saturday 9-6, Sunday 10-4
www.skismeatmarket.com
skismeatmarketwausau
WI-5001828130
2 | tuesday, october 7, 2014
Honor Flight • A Salute to Local Veterans | Gannett Wisconsin Media