Badger Honor Flight
The Badger Honor Flight is a regional affiliate of the Honor Flight Network and ensures veterans are able to see monuments erected in their honor. The Honor Flight Network provides all amenities to the veterans, including all transportation, meals and lodging. Volunteer guardians accompany the veterans. Guardians make sure the veterans stay with the group and take care of any special needs. Guardians are responsible for paying the $500 trip fee on their own; their fee is not covered by the donations that are collected. Visit www.badgerhonorflight.org for more information.
SOUTH WAYNE - It may not have been the first time that veteran Don Brooker visited national monuments in Washington D.C., but his trip April 25 was the first time he made the trek alongside his oldest daughter and fellow veterans with the Badger Honor Flight. Receiving a true hero's sendoff and welcome made for a memorable day for the South Wayne resident.
A few years ago, Brooker received a call from an old friend he knew back in the Navy. John Damarau was in Fennimore and looking through a phone book when he found a Brooker and wondered if it was his old friend. He called and connected with Brooker after 60 years.
Damarau, now living in Marshfield, and Brooker have gotten together a few times since then, and when the Honor Flight opportunity came up, they decided it was something they wanted to experience together.
Brooker originally heard about the Honor Flight from some friends he meets regularly for coffee. Many had gone and spoke highly of the experience. Brooker said he felt lucky that his daughter, Deborah, decided she wanted to join him; Each veteran needs a companion and it was the perfect father-daughter outing.
The day began with Deborah picking him up at 3 a.m. to leave the Madison airport at 7. When they arrived, thousands of people were there to greet them, along with the Dane County Sheriff's Department Honor Guard.
Brooker said the sendoff was overwhelming.
"The respect was awesome," he said. "And a day with my daughter - that just doesn't happen very often."
The group arrived at Reagan National Airport in Washington two hours later and was met again by thousands of people showing their support.
Brooker said the crowd was amazing and made the event extra special. Although the people in Madison to send them off were relatives, friends and supporters of the travelers, the people in Washington were strangers - but they came out anyway to welcome the veterans.
"Everything was so well organized and well planned on both ends," Brooker said, noting that the group was provided breakfast, lunch and dinner. "They took good care of us.
"The organization honestly could not have been better," he said. "I would encourage any veteran to do it."
The group filled four buses and had a police escort to Arlington National Cemetery, and several other monuments and sights.
They returned home with another warm welcome in Madison at around 9 p.m. that day and Brooker was proud to have family there, waiting to welcome him home.
Navy days
Brooker was living in the Nora, Illinois area and working in a Swiss cheese and butter factory in Waddams Grove when he enlisted in the Navy. He knew he would be drafted soon and decided he wanted to see the world. He and friend Lowell Kent joined together. He was 25.
His parents weren't happy about him joining, but as a young man, he said he looked forward to the challenge.
He spent 13 weeks in basic training at Great Lakes Naval Station north of Chicago. Brooker laughed when thinking back to basic training, calling himself a "glorified prisoner."
"It wasn't easy, but we made it through," he said with a smile.
In July of 1953, he served on the USS Midway, an aircraft carrier, where he would spent the next two years of his life.
He hadn't traveled much at all, but after his first two years with the Navy, he could say he had crossed the equator and made it to five of the seven continents.
While on the Midway, Brooker was assigned to shift service duty. He cared for everything from laundry, the barbershop, the ice cream parlor - basically anything to serve the ship, Brooker would work or run it. It was a job he says he enjoyed.
"It was as good a duty as you could have," Brooker said.
One thing that was a constant during his time in the Navy was Darlene Burmeister, a girl from Gratiot, who has now been his wife for almost 62 years.
He and Darlene would write back and forth regularly to keep in touch; some of the letters they've kept over all these years.
Following his time on the ship, he was transferred to Norfolk, Virginia where he and Darlene lived for two years and his work was more like a regular job. Their first daughter, Deborah, was born May 27, 1956 at the Port Smith Naval Hospital in Port Smith, near Norfolk.
The plan was always to eventually come back home and the following January, when Deborah was 7 months old, they returned to Wisconsin. Darlene's family had offered to get them started on a farm in Gratiot. The couple would spend the next 40 years together on a dairy and beef farm.
"We enjoyed it," Brooker said.
A few years ago, Brooker received a call from an old friend he knew back in the Navy. John Damarau was in Fennimore and looking through a phone book when he found a Brooker and wondered if it was his old friend. He called and connected with Brooker after 60 years.
Damarau, now living in Marshfield, and Brooker have gotten together a few times since then, and when the Honor Flight opportunity came up, they decided it was something they wanted to experience together.
Brooker originally heard about the Honor Flight from some friends he meets regularly for coffee. Many had gone and spoke highly of the experience. Brooker said he felt lucky that his daughter, Deborah, decided she wanted to join him; Each veteran needs a companion and it was the perfect father-daughter outing.
The day began with Deborah picking him up at 3 a.m. to leave the Madison airport at 7. When they arrived, thousands of people were there to greet them, along with the Dane County Sheriff's Department Honor Guard.
Brooker said the sendoff was overwhelming.
"The respect was awesome," he said. "And a day with my daughter - that just doesn't happen very often."
The group arrived at Reagan National Airport in Washington two hours later and was met again by thousands of people showing their support.
Brooker said the crowd was amazing and made the event extra special. Although the people in Madison to send them off were relatives, friends and supporters of the travelers, the people in Washington were strangers - but they came out anyway to welcome the veterans.
"Everything was so well organized and well planned on both ends," Brooker said, noting that the group was provided breakfast, lunch and dinner. "They took good care of us.
"The organization honestly could not have been better," he said. "I would encourage any veteran to do it."
The group filled four buses and had a police escort to Arlington National Cemetery, and several other monuments and sights.
They returned home with another warm welcome in Madison at around 9 p.m. that day and Brooker was proud to have family there, waiting to welcome him home.
Navy days
Brooker was living in the Nora, Illinois area and working in a Swiss cheese and butter factory in Waddams Grove when he enlisted in the Navy. He knew he would be drafted soon and decided he wanted to see the world. He and friend Lowell Kent joined together. He was 25.
His parents weren't happy about him joining, but as a young man, he said he looked forward to the challenge.
He spent 13 weeks in basic training at Great Lakes Naval Station north of Chicago. Brooker laughed when thinking back to basic training, calling himself a "glorified prisoner."
"It wasn't easy, but we made it through," he said with a smile.
In July of 1953, he served on the USS Midway, an aircraft carrier, where he would spent the next two years of his life.
He hadn't traveled much at all, but after his first two years with the Navy, he could say he had crossed the equator and made it to five of the seven continents.
While on the Midway, Brooker was assigned to shift service duty. He cared for everything from laundry, the barbershop, the ice cream parlor - basically anything to serve the ship, Brooker would work or run it. It was a job he says he enjoyed.
"It was as good a duty as you could have," Brooker said.
One thing that was a constant during his time in the Navy was Darlene Burmeister, a girl from Gratiot, who has now been his wife for almost 62 years.
He and Darlene would write back and forth regularly to keep in touch; some of the letters they've kept over all these years.
Following his time on the ship, he was transferred to Norfolk, Virginia where he and Darlene lived for two years and his work was more like a regular job. Their first daughter, Deborah, was born May 27, 1956 at the Port Smith Naval Hospital in Port Smith, near Norfolk.
The plan was always to eventually come back home and the following January, when Deborah was 7 months old, they returned to Wisconsin. Darlene's family had offered to get them started on a farm in Gratiot. The couple would spend the next 40 years together on a dairy and beef farm.
"We enjoyed it," Brooker said.