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From left, Tom McGovern, a U.S. Navy veteran who served from 1967-1971; Dick 'Doc' Olsen, a U.S. Army veteran who served from 1963-1966; and Al Hunt, a U.S. Army veteran who served from 1966-1969. All live in Wahpeton and all recently took part in the Veterans Honor Flight of ND/MN's trip to Washington, D.C.

Doc Olsen greets the crowd Tuesday, Oct. 4 at Hector International Airport, Fargo.

From left, Tom McGovern, a U.S. Navy veteran who served from 1967-1971; Dick 'Doc' Olsen, a U.S. Army veteran who served from 1963-1966; and Al Hunt, a U.S. Army veteran who served from 1966-1969. All live in Wahpeton and all recently took part in the Veterans Honor Flight of ND/MN's trip to Washington, D.C.

Veterans Honor Flight of ND/MN’s Sunday, Oct. 2-Tuesday, Oct. 4 trip to Washington, D.C. included diversity among the passengers.

The 94 veterans and 31 volunteers who returned to Hector International Airport, Fargo, included veterans of World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War, as well as their families. At least 12 of the veterans are current residents of Richland County, North Dakota, and Wilkin County, Minnesota. At least two more individuals were either originally from or have family currently residing in the area.

Included among the men gratefully welcomed back, according to information provided by Veterans Honor Flight, were:

• Harold Jorgenson, Lidgerwood, North Dakota

• Roger Nelson, Fairmount, North Dakota

• Benedict Samek, Dwight, North Dakota

• Warren Papke, Jamestown, North Dakota

Daily News has and will continue to recognize the Honor Flight riders. Three of the above men — Hunt, Olsen and McGovern — recently spoke about their past and present experiences. More local stories are coming soon.

Tom McGovern turns 74 in December. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1967-1971, including two six-month cruises to the Mediterranean Sea. Doc Olsen, 79, served in the U.S. Army from 1963-1966. His experience included being stationed in North Carolina and Alabama. “That’s like being in a foreign country for someone from Wahpeton,” he said. Al Hunt, 76, served in the U.S. Army from August 1966-August 1969. He was stationed in Korea.

Daily News: What has serving America meant, and means, for you?

Al Hunt: I figured I was doing my duty. I had two uncles who were in World War II, two brothers in the Guards and another brother in the Marines. A lot of us served.

Doc Olsen: It was about the same for me, too. It was doing your duty.

Tom McGovern: My cousin was in the Navy. That was what kind of pushed me towards the Navy. My dad was a World War I veteran. He asked me if I had the call to follow in his footsteps.

DN: Since your service, have you talked to younger family or community members who might consider joining the military?

TM: We have a couple of grandsons who are talking about the Guard, which is a good thing. I think all young kids should serve, in one way or another, but that’s not the way of the world today.

DO: My niece, who was in Fargo to pick me up the other night, has an oldest son who just joined the National Guard.

AH: For me, it’s not really reaching out to people about it. If they ask me, I say, well, it’s your choice. They now have so many educational programs tied with the military.

DN: Did any of you use the G.I. Bill for education after your service?

TM: I went through Science School for the welding course. Seven years later, I hurt my back and went back to school on the G.I. Bill for plumbing. I was involved in that for the next 40 years. I had a background for some of these life choices in the Navy. I got to go to a ship fitting school in San Diego for six months. It included firefighting, welding, sheet metal work, plumbing, pipe fitting — a lot of the civilian trades. That gave me a background to head into.

DN: It sounds like you built on what you learned.

TM: I did, yes. I didn’t have any goals or anywhere to go before I joined the service. That gave me direction.

DO: I don’t really know for sure if I built on what I learned. When I was in the service, I had graduated from Science School (North Dakota State College of Science). I didn’t really have the money to go to anyplace. I knew I was going to be drafted soon, so I enlisted in the Army. I served my time in the service. Well, then I could go to school on the G.I. Bill.

AH: When I got out of school, I was going to go to Denver for bookkeeping. A classmate and his folks had moved out there. I went out there and interviewed, then I borrowed the money from the bank. We didn’t have student loans back then. I was already to go to college and then two weeks before, the buddy called and said they closed the school. It went bankrupt. I went to work for a big rancher and then I got my draft notice.

DN: How did you become an Honor Flight rider?

AH: I went to Mary Vetter, our (county) service officer. She signed me up a couple years ago. COVID pushed things back. They were also taking World War II and Korean War guys first. I think this was the first group that went that had Vietnam-era people in it.

DO: We did have one World War II veteran who came with us. He was 95.

DN: Do you feel that it is a good thing that you and your fellow veterans are receiving recognition?

TM: (after all agree) There’s no doubt about it. I didn’t realize the pent-up feelings I had until I came down the plank coming into Fargo. It was very emotional.

AH: When I came home (for the first time), I landed in Pierre. I was living in South Dakota. I got off the plane and walked through the terminal and not a soul even as much said hi.

TM: I think we all felt that. It was cold when we got out of the service. Nobody wanted to know anything about what we had done, or anything. People ignored us.

AH: But Tuesday night, when we came down, we heard cheers. It was 40, 50 years late, but we still got it.

DO: It hits you. It was very emotional coming down there. Back when we got out of the service, nobody wanted to acknowledge it. There was no homecoming like there was after previous wars. You got out of the service, you came home and you went back to work.

DN: Had any of you ever seen Washington, D.C. before?

DO: I did once in 1965. It’s changed. There’s a lot of new monuments.

AH: The one thing I wish we could have seen was that Eternal Flame for President Kennedy.

TM: I also would have really liked to have seen the World War I memorial. We drove by it, but there was no place for the buses to park. Because my dad was a World War I veteran, I would have liked to have seen it.

DO: I could have spent a lot of time at the Army Museum.

AH: At the National Archives, we got to see the Magna Carta and the Constitution.

DO: The Declaration of Independence was there. Only media can take photos in there.

DN: It takes volunteers, donations, hard work and organization to put on an Honor Flight and D.C. visit.

TM: I can’t express enough gratitude to them for their work. It was tremendous. We had two doctors on board, numerous nurses and two respiratory therapists. The organization was fantastic. They had it down pat.

AH: You can’t thank them enough. I thanked them every chance I had.

Veterans Day will be observed nationally on Friday, Nov. 11. Daily News will include coverage leading up to and following the event.

Doc Olsen greets the crowd Tuesday, Oct. 4 at Hector International Airport, Fargo.

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