Four Local Veterans To Visit WWII Memorial In Washington
Four Local Veterans To Visit WWII Memorial In Washington
Posted
Jennifer Peryam-jperyam@timesuniononline.com
Four Local Veterans To Visit WWII Memorial In WashingtonFour local World War II veterans will join with 76 other veterans from Northeast Indiana Wednesday to visit the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C.
Making the trip will be Eileen Sellers, 85, Winona Lake; and Bert DePue, 83, Jack Jacobs, 83, and Glenn Butler, 87, all of North Webster.
Thursday is Veterans Day.
The trip is being sponsored by Honor Flight Northeast Indiana.
Honor flights are funded by community donations from individuals, corporations and foundations. Veterans do not have to pay for the trip. Each veteran will have a guardian that travels with them that pays their own way.
Honor Flight is a non-profit organization honoring American veterans for their sacrifices.
Corporate sponsors for the trip are DePuy Orthopaedics, Zwick & Jahn Funeral Home, American Legion Post 202, Butler and American Legion Post 160, Roanoke.
They will take a charter flight from Fort Wayne International Airport. The plane will arrive at Dulles Airport, Maryland. Besides the WWII Memorial, the veterans also will see the Lincoln, Navy, Air Force and Korean Memorials, Vietnam Wall and Iwo Jima Memorial.
Bob Myer, vice president of Honor Flight Northeast Indiana, said this will be the fourth Northeast Indiana trip to Washington the Honor Flight group has taken.
"It took 60 years to build the WWII Memorial, and by the time it was built and dedicated in May 2004 a lot of WWII vets had passed away or no longer had the ability to see the memorial," Myer said.
Myer said the trip allows the veterans to see the memorial that honors them.
Sellers, a Grace Village resident, served as a corporal in the Air Force from November 1944 to April 1946.
She worked on a flight line issuing flight equipment such as parachutes and oxygen masks to soldiers who were returning from WWII to keep their training current. She was stationed on an air base in Hobbs, N.M.
Sellers said she is looking forward to the trip.
"I am going to take a lot of pictures, and having been through WWII, it will be refreshing to see the memorial, and I think every veteran should have the opportunity to see it," Sellers said.
DePue served in the military from 1946 to 1947. He was a military policeman stationed at Anita Airfield in Japan, and was transferred to Tokyo where he was a dispatcher.
As a military policeman he was on jeep patrol, ensuring the safety of the soldiers on base. As a dispatcher he worked lining up war vehicles for the soldiers.
DePue said he never thought in his lifetime that he would have the opportunity to see the memorial.
"I think it is important that every veteran goes to the memorial to see what has been accomplished in their life," DePue said.
Jacobs served in the Navy from 1945 to 1946.
"When I was 17 I got on my mom to let me enlist in the Navy because I had an older brother in the Navy," Jacobs said.
He said he and his brother were stationed in the Philippines 500 miles apart.
Jacobs drove a road grader, building roads on the island of Somar in the Philippines.
He said he is looking forward to going to Washington.
"It means everything to go to D.C. because I am a veteran, and I am looking forward to meeting other veterans and seeing the memorial," Jacobs said.
Butler served from 1942-1945 as a pilot bomber in the Air Force and was stationed in Corsica, Italy.
Butler also flew as a fighter pilot from 1950 to 1970 for the 122nd Unit of the Air National Guard, Fort Wayne.
Butler's son, Gary, will be his guardian on the trip.
"I am looking forward to going to D.C. to see the monuments and experiencing the adventure with my son," Butler said.
Honor Flight Northeast Indiana is planning another trip for veterans to Washington this spring. There are 45 to 50 applicants currently, and room for 80.
Requirements for the trip are that a person is a WWII veteran, and has not seen the WWII memorial before.
Veteran and volunteer applications are available at www.hfnei.org, or for more information e-mail honorflightnei@gmail.com or call 260-633-0049.
