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Honor Flight ready to takeoff

Area veterans prepare for trip to Washington, D.C.

-Daily Freeman-Journal photo by Peter Kaspari Army Veteran Roger Edwards, left, of Emmetsburg, takes a selfie with his daughter, Kasey Edwards, at the Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight banquet Wednesday evening. Army Veteran Roger Edwards, left, of Emmetsburg, takes a selfie with his daughter, Kasey Edwards, at the Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight banquet Wednesday evening.

FORT DODGE – The group of veterans traveling on the next Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight gathered at the Webster County Fairgrounds Wednesday evening to check in, receive their itinerary and enjoy a meal.

The 14th Honor Flight will leave from the Fort Dodge Regional Airport early in the morning on May 6. More than 150 veterans from World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam War will spend the entire day in Washington, D.C., where they will visit various sites, including war memorials and Arlington National Cemetery.

For some of the veterans, traveling to the nation’s capital is something they’re looking forward to.

They include Army veteran James Scott, of Stratford, who served in Vietnam.

“I just want to see the wall,” he said, referring to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. “I’ve never been there. Maybe I’ll see some other guys there with me.”

A recipient of three Purple Hearts, Scott said he, like many other Vietnam veterans, was treated poorly when he returned to America. “When I came back, I was on a stretcher,” Scott said. “We had stuff thrown at us. A lot of name-calling.”

Scott said he received his Purple Hearts after being blown up by a grenade and getting shot.

He described the opportunity to travel to D.C. on the Honor Flight as “terrific.”

Another Vietnam veteran, Roger Edwards, of Emmetsburg, said he was shocked when he found out he had been selected for the flight.

-Messenger photo by Peter Kaspari Vietnam Veteran Gerry Thein, left, of Okoboji, and his wife, Denise Thein, look over a book showing all the sites in Washington, D.C. Thein, who served in the Navy, will be attending the 14th Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight next Saturday.

He had a list of what he wanted to see while in the nation’s capital.

“I want to see the Vietnam wall,” he said. “And hopefully we’ll get to see the Constitution.”

Korean War veteran Harold Kabringer, of Forest City, said he’s been wanting to go on the Honor Flight for awhile, and is happy that he’ll finally be going.

The Army veteran said he spent four years in Korea, with one of those years on the front lines.

Much of his time, he said, was spent in a quarry.

“I got to be a demolitions specialist,” he said. “They didn’t have roads, so I opened up a rock quarry and did all the blasting.”

He described his time in the quarry as being similar to a civilian, since he went there in the morning and left at night.

Besides the veterans, the Honor Flight will also feature a special four-legged guest traveling along.

Her name is Nicole, and she is being trained as a service dog for the Puppy Jake Foundation, in Urbandale.

Kris Dobesh, of Algona, is a volunteer for Puppy Jake that is helping to train Nicole. She said the foundation provides service dogs to veterans who have been wounded in war.

Although this is Nicole’s first time on the Honor Flight, Dobesh said this is not the dog’s first flight.

“Our organization trains at least two major trips for buses, subways and taxi cabs,” she said. “I personally fly, too, so she’s been on about five or six flights.”

Nicole is taking part in a two-year training program. According to Dobesh, Nicole’s training will conclude next spring.

So far, Nicole has done well in her quarterly assessments, except for one skill in which she’s lagging.

What skill is that?

“Turning on light switches,” Dobesh said. “She’s still learning that.”

Eventually, Dobesh said she expects Nicole will be given to a veteran who is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Besides the dinner and going over the itinerary, veterans were also treated to a video presentation as well as a performance of “God Bless the USA” by Manson Northwest Webster fifth-graders Emily Schroeder and Heather Jud, both 11.

The Honor Flight will depart from the Fort Dodge Regional Airport around 6:20 a.m. on May 6 and return about 10:30 p.m. that same day.

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