In honor of Veteran's Day 2018, we're showcasing a few of our recent articles featuring veterans' stories. Thank you to those who have served!
Originally published October 4, 2018 (Issue 39)
Last week Frank Koens took an Honor Flight!
“It was a great time all around,” Koens said. “We started out with a banquet last Monday night at the Sheraton and Sioux Falls Convention Center. At 2:30 in the a.m. we flew to DC. Senator Thune was there to greet us all and we then took a bus tour of the DC area. We had a motorcycle police escort patrol everywhere we went so, that was kind of fun, having all city traffic stop for us. We visited the National Mall; the World War Two, Korean and Vietnam Memorials. We went to Arlington National Cemetery and we watched the laying of the wreath and the changing of the guard at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. DC is just too big for you to see it all in one day, but they did a great job showing us as much as possible in the time allotted.”
“There were about eighty other vets with me who went on the trip, guys from South Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa. Each of us was assigned a buddy or guardian to be our traveling companion, and I was introduced to a very nice lady from Sioux Center, Iowa. Her name was Angie Rodenburgh and we hit it off right away, just like we were old friends who’d known each other for years. They looked after us, made sure we had everything we needed at all times and the bus was handicapped accessible so it was easy for the guys in wheelchairs to get in and out.”
“It was my oldest daughter, Kathy Frager who got the process started, when she got me the paperwork for going on this trip. Originally I was going to go this past May, but my grandson was graduating high school so I wanted to stick around for that. My whole family was waiting for me when I flew back and we had another big get-together at the Sheraton. We left early last Tuesday morning and got back just after 8 o’clock the same day, direct flights to and from DC, about 2 and a half hours. I’m usually up by 6:30 every morning but I sure slept in on Wednesday. I’m grateful to Kathy for getting this started and to Angie for being a great traveling companion. I was deeply moved by this trip, especially seeing the Korean Memorial. That was my war, and the sculpture was both inspiring and a little haunting, you could see the statues looking right back at you from whatever angle you looked at them. Exchanging stories with the other guys was another big highlight. We had a few from WWII, the Korean War which again was my war, and few from Vietnam and it was nice meeting them and traveling with them.” “Midwest Honor Flight did a fantastic job, well planned and well executed. All in all it was a great trip and a great experience and so if you get the chance to go on one of these I strongly recommend it. And it was all expenses paid, the only thing I spent money on was my hotel room at the Sheraton simply because that was easier than having to get up early and drive down yourself by 3:15 a.m., it was just more convenient that way and it’s what most of the guys did.”
“If you get the opportunity to go, you should take it, it’s very worthwhile.”
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