As a reporter for KELOLAND News, I was fortunate to travel to Washington, D.C. to cover their stories, but I also got to experience the trip with my own grandpa, a former Navy man from Yankton. He’s like so many other veterans in that era who never spoke of their military service.
Honor Flight vets say the World War II Memorial is the highlight of the trip; the one place they can all share, no matter what branch of the military they'd served in.
For my grandpa, Lee Skalberg, the visit has been a long time coming.
"I always wondered. We've been here a number of times, but this new memorial wasn't constructed then," Skalberg said.
Grandpa Lee was a member of the Seabees, which is known as the military construction branch of the U.S. Navy. He worked as a certified welder in the South West Pacific, building roads and landing strips in island communities, as well as repairing military ships. "Served in New Guinea during World War II; saw a lot of terrible destruction and a lot of loss of life," Skalberg said.
Allied forces battled Japanese soldiers on a regular basis, but the deadliest attack my grandfather witnessed was in 1945 as naval ships were lining up for the second battle of the Philippines.
"Was welding one day next to the shoreline, and heard a terrible explosion," Skalberg said. "Two-man subs got under the net the night before and destroyed, bombed, torpedoed two ammunition ships. One-hundred fifty-seven lost their lives."
Grandpa says he'll never know why, but he wasn't on the water that day.
"The miraculous thing is I could have been out there working, welding, where I was ashore that day," Skalberg said.
Grandpa's service in the Navy was never something we talked about in our family. In fact, it took this trip to Washington, D.C. for me to hear some of those war stories.
It's typical of so many vets in his generation, but Grandpa says the Honor Flight brought out so many of those memories.
"The older we become, the more sensitive we become. As we become more sensitive, we want to talk about our past experiences," Skalberg said.
Katie Janssen: People around here call you a hero; do you feel like a hero?
Skalberg: Oh, no. I feel like it was destined to be my duty.
Now, he and 108 other South Dakota veterans are getting the thanks they deserve, even if they won't admit it, at a memorial built with them in mind.
"It's a distinct honor for me," Skalberg said.
And for those who experienced it with him.
This was the final Honor Flight for 2009. Organizers hope to send another 600 vets to Washington, D.C. next year, but still need donations to do so.
