Allenton, Wi – Thirteen veterans from Washington County, Wi will depart for Washington D.C. on Saturday’s Stars and Stripes Honor Flight. One of the men on the flight is Navy veteran Del Ellefson.
Ellefson and his wife Sharon live in Allenton. He said after high school he thought of himself as a factory worker due to his average grades, however at age 18 he attended beauty school. Realizing it wouldn’t get him many places in life he stopped about a year later.
At 22 years old he joined the Navy before the Army would draft him. He thought he would only be sitting on a boat, but he was soon trained to be a medic.
“The service changes your view on life,” said Ellefson. “You appreciate what you have.”
Shipped to Vietnam, Ellefson said it was a life-changing experience. “It opens your eye when you have to send people in bags back home to their moms.”
The atmosphere and conditions were grim. “We were regularly exposed to diseases, rats, leeches, gunfire and a lot of snakes,” he said.
“Vietnam was a low point in my life, you never knew if you would come home.”
As a medic Ellefson was treated well because if someone was hurt, “you were the hope.”
On the 4th of July, Ellefson returned home from Vietnam and attended college for nursing. Due to his medic training he received money from the G.I Bill to help finance his education.
After about 7-8 years he quit and bought invested in assisted-living homes with his wife Sharon.
When asked how the war affected his life, he said, “it opens your eyes to a lot of possibilities.”
Questioned whether he would ever go back to Vietnam he said, “No, never would set foot again because of the bloodshed.”
Yet, Ellefson encouraged kids to go to the military. “It helps you grow up and stand on your own two feet.”
This flight will be the first Stars and Stripes Honor Flight of 2025.
About the author: Michaiah Kremer is a 15-year-old freshman at Kettle Moraine Lutheran High School in Jackson. She enjoys English and archery and works at her dad’s shop in Kewaskum, WI.
Local veterans include Navy veterans Del Ellefson from Allenton and Clive Extence from Hubertus. Army veterans include Gerald Patoka Sr. from Jackson, Allen Bales from West Bend, Michael Bauer from Hartford, Clifford Van Beek from West Bend, Michael Adell from West Bend, Donald Jaeger from Hartford, Ronald Rosenberg from West Bend, David Brand of Slinger and Conrad Hannula from West Bend. Air Force veterans Charles Volrath from Slinger and Timothy Scherer from Germantown.
Two Southwest Airlines B-737 aircraft, an “alpha” plane and a “bravo” plane, will leave Milwaukee’s Mitchell International Airport at approximately 6:30 am and 7:30 am on flight day, bound for Washington Dulles International Airport with 116 local veterans (and their guardians) on board. On that day, Stars and Stripes Honor Flight will welcome 2 WWII veterans, 7 Korean War veterans and 107 veterans of the Vietnam War and Vietnam Era.
Veterans taking their Stars and Stripes Honor Flight on April 26 include a 101-year-old WWII veteran of the European theater, a Vietnam War Army tank commander, and a Huey helicopter pilot who was shot down twice.
After the planes land in the Washington DC area on flight day, the veterans will board coach buses to tour Washington DC’s WWII Memorial, the Korean War Memorial, the Air Force Memorial, the Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial Wall, and more.
The day will also include viewing the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.
Veterans’ families and friends and the general public are encouraged to attend the Homecoming parades at Mitchell Airport that evening.
The two planes are scheduled to land at approximately 8:05 p.m. (alpha) and 9:20 p.m. (bravo). The University of Wisconsin Alumni Band and the cheer team from the Howard Fuller Collegiate Academy will provide spirit for the Homecoming festivities.
Prior to the April 26 flight, Stars and Stripes Honor Flight has flown 10,532 local veterans on these trips to Washington DC since 2008 and has honored more than 50 veterans locally who were not able to fly.
As an all-volunteer organization with no paid staff and no offices, the organization is proud to share that $.97 of every donated dollar goes directly to flying and honoring veterans.
Many of our oldest veterans are unable to visit Washington DC without assistance, and many need the closure and healing that an Honor Flight can bring to the twilight of their lives. Nationally, hubs in the Honor Flight Network have taken more than 275,000 veterans to see their memorials.
Timeline of activities for the Saturday April 26 Stars and Stripes Honor Flight:
5:00 am – Veterans and their guardians begin check in on Mitchell Airport’s main concourse
5:50 am – National Anthem by vocalist Michelle Haffelder
6:30 am – “Alpha” flight departs for Dulles Airport; water cannon salute on runway (weather permitting)
7:30 am – “Bravo” flight departs for Dulles Airport; water cannon salute on runway (weather permitting)
9:00 am – 10:00 am (ET) – Flights arrive at Dulles Airport, load buses for DC tour
5:30 pm – 6:30 pm (ET) – Return to Dulles Airport, load planes for departure back to MKE
8:05 pm (CT, approximate) and 9:30 pm (CT, approximate) – Return flights land at Mitchell Int’l Airport, veterans deplane for a parade through the airport’s main concourse. The UW Alumni Band and the Howard Fuller Collegiate Academy Cheer Team will provide spirit and entertainment for the Homecoming parades.
