Washington County, WI – On Saturday, May 20, 2023, 75-year-old US Marine veteran Lee Treuden of Jackson, WI, will be joining 14 other Washington County vets on the Stars & Stripes Honor Flight to Washington D.C.
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Lee Treuden enlisted in the US Marine Corps at the age of 18 and went to boot camp in San Diego. “I was a Hollywood Marine,” Treuden said. From there he was sent to Camp Pendleton in Oceanside, CA for Advanced Infantry Training.
Treuden went home on furlough and returned to Camp Pendleton for staging battalion to go to Vietnam where he spent 10 months and 4 days.
Treuden was wounded three times and earned three Purple Heart medals.
Treuden has been married to his wife, Kathleen, for nearly 20 years. They have a blended family of three children: Cheryl Haase, Scott Johnson and Christopher Zasada. Cheryl will be accompanying Treuden as his chaperone on the upcoming Honor Flight.
There are eight grandchildren between Treuden and his wife: Connor and Allison Haase, Taylor and Connor Johnson, Allison Bingham, Josh, Chris and Ashley Patton. Chris is currently serving in the Marine Corps in Japan.
There are also two great-grandchildren, Emery and Nyla.
Following his honorable discharge from the Marines, Treuden joined his father and brother, Tom, at Butler Gear Company in Butler, WI. “We manufactured gears. My brother, Tom, was president after he retired. I was Vice President of the company.”
Treuden finds the Northwoods to be his retirement “go-to” place with his wife. “We’ve been working on our cabin up north in Eagle River. There was one small pile of snow in the middle of the lawn yet last week.”
In his spare time, Treuden belongs to American Legion Post 392 in Menomonee Falls. He also belongs to the Badger Marine Corps Detachment #348. “It’s like American Legion or VFW but strictly Marines,” said Treuden.
The upcoming Honor Flight is very exciting to Treuden, “I’m looking forward to meeting other veterans and seeing all the monuments.”
“I’d like to give a huge thank you to [Stars and Stripes Honor Flight] for doing this for us veterans. I stalled off on applying three times for it. I was standoffish. My wife told me to sign up,” Treuden said.
Treuden is one of 15 veterans from Washington County, WI
that are traveling on the May 20 Honor Flight
Stars and Stripes Honor Flight is the Milwaukee area hub of the Honor Flight Network. Founded in 2008, Stars and Stripes Honor Flight has flown more than 7,600 WWII, Korean War, and Vietnam War veterans from southeastern Wisconsin on a one-day, all-expense-paid trip to Washington D.C.
Two veterans have asked that their names not be made public.
