Local veterans take trip of a lifetime to Washington, D.C.

Local veterans Roger Ellison and Art Petke were recently recognized for their military service through a Never Forgotten Honor Flight, an unforgettable experience.

Ellison and Petke are members of the Loyal American Legion. Ellison lives in Loyal. Petke lives in Longwood, but his wife, Kathy, is from Loyal and he has friends in Loyal.

The Never Forgotten Honor Flight, a Wausau-based organization and part of the national Honor Flight Network, takes veterans from central and northern Wisconsin on an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C., to view the memorials built in their honor. Any veteran who served honorably on active duty, in the Reserves, National Guard or Inactive Class 3 Reserves (IRR) in any branch of service, before May 7, 1975, is eligible. Roger Ellison Ellison was born and raised on a farm about four miles northeast of Loyal. He served in the U.S. Army in the 82nd Airborne Division from January 1962 through the end of October 1964. He was a paratrooper. He also did artillery surveying and drove a Jeep.

“The reason I chose that (a paratrooper) is they showed a movie with people jumping out of airplanes and I wanted to do that,” said Ellison.

He enlisted at age 18, figuring if he didn’t enlist, he would be drafted anyway. He completed his basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., and an additional eight weeks of training at Fort Sill, Okla. After that, he went to jump school at Fort Benning, Ga., and finally was stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C.

Please see Veterans, page 6

Roger Ellison

Art Petke Veterans,

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“There were more than 500 that started our paratrooper class, but less than half finished the class. Most quit in the first week because of the physical training,” said Ellison. “It was 10 to 12 hours a day of training — running, pushups (and) pull-ups. The second week we got to jump off a tower; it was a zip line-type thing. The last week we got to jump every day. The first time we jumped, I was the last one out of the plane. The second time we jumped, I was the first one out of the plane. It’s a high that you don’t experience any other way; it’s a thrill.”

Ellison completed 29 jumps during his military stint. “I’m glad that I did it; otherwise I would never have had that experience,” he said.

Ellison did not serve overseas, but was on call during tumultuous times.

“During the Cuban Missile Crisis and when Kennedy was shot, we were put on alert both times,” said Ellison.

He was also sent to a football game at a Mississippi college to keep the peace during a time of riots when schools were being integrated.

On Jan. 3, 1964, Ellison got in a serious car accident while on base at Fort Bragg and spent the next nine-anda- half months in the hospital. At the beginning of March, his unit went to Vietnam, so if he hadn’t been in that accident, he would have been sent to Vietnam.

After Ellison got out of the military, he spent about three years in Milwaukee before buying a farm outside of Loyal. After 20 years, he left the farm and spent the next 25 or so years driving semi. After he retired, he drove semi part-time. Now, he lives in the city of Loyal and volunteers as a driver for Clark County Social Services, taking patients to appointments.

Ellison has four children — Mike, Ricky, Denise and Elizabeth — three of whom live in the Madison area and the other in the Twin Cities.

Art Petke Petke was drafted in his early 20s and served in the U.S. Army from 1964–1966, in the Vietnam War. He completed his basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., before going to specialized training at Fort Sill, Okla., and then overseas. He was a meteorologist and sent up weather balloons to test atmospheric conditions. The data collected was reported to the people who fired the heavy artillery.

After his time in the service, Petke returned to his home farm in Longwood. He farmed for many years and also played accordion in a dance band, with many performances at the Loyal American Legion over the years. He has one son, also named Art and also a veteran, who served as his guardian on the trip.

“I was thankful and impressed that my son got to go,” Petke said.

Petke got signed up for the trip through the help of his wife’s cousin, Dave Lucht, who lives in Loyal and is a veteran. After Lucht went on the Honor Flight several years ago, he and his wife Barb signed Petke up to go on the flight. That was around 2018.

Ellison decided to apply for the Honor Flight after hearing a presentation from two Honor Flight representatives at the Loyal American Legion’s birthday banquet a few years ago.

“Before, I had felt kinda guilty about signing up to go because some guys did a lot more than me. But, the guys who presented said that if we were in the service, we did our job; and that it was for everyone to go if they wanted to.”

After signing up, it took a few years before Ellison and Petke got to fly, because veterans who served in World War II or are terminally ill have the first priority. But eventually the time came.

The trip The veterans flew out of the Central Wisconsin Airport in Mosinee in the early hours of April 17, and received a warm welcome everywhere they went.

“I was really impressed when we arrived at the airport in D.C. We walked through a receiving line with people cheering, clapping and shaking our hands like we were some type of hero,” said Ellison.

The full day’s tour included visiting the World War II, Korean and Vietnam memorials, as well as stops at the Lincoln Memorial, Air Force Memorial, Iwo Jima Memorial (Marine Corps War Memorial) and Arlington National Cemetery. An on-bus tour guide explained all the sights. The veterans received a police escort everywhere they went in D.C. At all the memorials, Petke said, people recognized them and stopped to greet and congratulate them.

Both veterans were impressed by the Changing of the Guard ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the precision of its elite guards.

“Everyone should see that,” said Petke. “That was neat to see… It was all neat to see. There were a lot of happy moments but also a lot of sad moments, like seeing all the graves in Arlington Cemetery,” said Ellison. “At one point, we all lined up to take a picture and a soldier wanted to talk to us afterward. He took an empty wheelchair and wheeled it in front of us. He said he wished he could have brought his brother on the trip but he lost him in Vietnam. So he put a picture of his brother in the wheelchair and we all saluted.”

Another moment that stuck with Ellison was visiting the Vietnam Memorial and finding and saluting John Rueth’s name. Rueth, from Loyal, was killed in the war.

The meaningful moments continued throughout the trip. On the plane ride back, during “mail call,” Ellison received an envelope stuffed to the brim with thank-you letters from school kids as well as friends of his, including people he knew from 40 years ago or more. Ellison said he was grateful to his significant other, Lavon Lindner, who contacted people to write letters and did a lot of other things to help him prepare for his trip. He was also grateful that three of his kids were able to come greet him at the airport.

Arriving back at the Mosinee airport, veterans were greeted by a band playing music and rows upon rows of people cheering and waiting to shake the veterans’ hands.

“I didn’t expect all that,” said Ellison. “That was overwhelming, to say the least,” Petke agreed.

Petke said the scene stood in stark contrast to the response he received during his military time.

“When we were going to leave, we spent a week in the desert in California because of the demonstrations and riots that were going on. When soldiers were leaving, people would ram the trains. Then when we got home, we were told, ‘Get out of your uniform. Don’t let anyone see you in your uniform.’ There was no respect. Coming home a few days ago made up for that,” he said.

The veterans were left with a sense of gratitude for all they got to experience.

“Everyone was very good and went overboard to treat us well,” Ellison said.

“I was impressed with everything. The people that run the Honor Flight do a great job,” said Petke. “They fed us very well; we had more food than we needed. There were doctors on the plane in case anyone had a medical concern. They thought of everything — we were well taken care of.”

For both veterans, the memories will last a lifetime. “It makes you feel good. I still kind of feel the high from it,” said Ellison. “It makes you feel like you did something worthwhile.”

About the Never Forgotten Honor Flight The Never Forgotten Honor Flight is a nonprofit supported entirely by donations, with no government funding. It has flown 4,076 veterans to D.C. The Never Forgotten Honor Flight was recently named the Greater Wausau Chamber of Commerce’s 2023 Small Business of the Year in the Charitable Non-Profit category.

There were about 180 people on the April 17 flight. Each flight costs about $100,000 total and is entirely free for veterans. For more information, to make a donation or for the flight application, visit neverforgottenhonorfl ight.com. Those who have been on the flight highly recommend it to their fellow veterans.

“They really should go. If I had some way of talking to every veteran, I would tell them to go,” said Petke.