How does your community honor veterans?
THANKFUL MEAL
At the Emmons County courthouse, they have a meal for the veterans, which is one way we can show our appreciation by thanking them.
Bonnie Eberle
KEM Electric Cooperative
COMMUNITY APPRECIATION
Bowman honors veterans in two ways. First, a restaurant/bar has a large screen on the wall that is constantly changing, showing veterans’ names and other pertinent information about them. Second, a business has designated parking near its door for veterans, thanking them for their service.
Bowman also has a moving Veterans Day program held during the week of Veterans Day. In addition, an extensive veterans wall is located outside of the courthouse, and it is now being enlarged.
Yvonne Stegner
Formerly of Slope Electric Cooperative
HONORING A PILOT
Over 60 years ago on Dec. 19, 1963, several jet fighters took off from the Minot Air Force Base on a training flight. Capt. William Richardson led the flight. When they got southwest of Bismarck at the altitude of 30,000 feet, Richardson’s plane had a major malfunction that took out the engine and all the electrical equipment. Richardson tried to eject, but the ejection system failed.
The jet crashed between Raleigh and Flasher, and Richardson was killed. A crash investigation found Richardson’s death was due to the faulty ejection seat. In fact, Richardson was the 13th pilot to be killed because of the seat. At long last, the U.S. Air Force finally demanded the seat be replaced, and many pilots were saved afterward because of it.
The crash between Flasher and Raleigh was big news. Newspapers all over the country reported on the event.
As time went on, the crash was forgotten, and many younger people in the Flasher and Raleigh area were not aware it ever happened.
In 2023, the Flasher American Legion Post 69 put up a memorial along Highway 31 near the spot where the crash occurred. The Flasher school shop class made the memorial.
Richardson’s daughter, Trish Healy, who was only 2 years old when her dad was killed, came to view the memorial in July 2024. Flasher Legion Post Commander Leonard Gerhardt said we needed to do something during her visit, so a dedication was planned with many guests that included a B-52 bomber pilot from the Minot Air Force Base. The Legion conducted an Honor Guard ceremony, followed by a P-51 Mustang flyover. Everyone then retired for a lunch at the Flasher fire hall. Through her tears, Trish stated she couldn’t believe what the community had done to honor her father. She said she would remember the event for the rest of her life.
The memorial is north of Raleigh on the west side of Highway 31, approximately 3.5 miles south of the Highway 31 and Highway 21 junction.
Scott Nelson
Mor-Gran-Sou Electric Cooperative
HONORING WITH PARADE
In the Mandan/Bismarck area, veterans are honored at the fraternal clubs.
We are usually in our winter home in Apache Junction, Ariz., for the Veterans Day celebration. There is always a parade down our main street with many veterans in the parade, led by the Apache Junction police and fire department. They ride in Army jeeps, pickups, on homemade floats, motorcycles and some even on horseback. If possible, the veterans even walk with Boy Scout and Girl Scout groups.
Back in our park, we honor all veterans with a program. The Honor Guard presents the U.S. flag and the Canadian flag.
We have a wonderful group of ladies that makes each veteran a quilt. These ladies have made over 100 quilts the past 15 years, since we’ve been residents of the park. My husband, Gene, received a quilt three years ago, and our granddaughter was visiting us at the time. She, too, is proud of her grandpa’s four years of service with the U.S. Navy.
Margie Muth
Mor-Gran-Sou Electric Cooperative
CELEBRATING AT SCHOOL
Our school celebrates Veterans Day by having a Veterans Day assembly. Each student can invite a veteran to come with them. I invite my dad. There is a breakfast and a program. The program includes a slideshow of the veterans’ pictures and names, people speaking and kids singing. There are drawings in the gym.
We celebrate Veterans Day because they help our community and our country.
Isabella Schaper, age 8
McKenzie Electric Cooperative
REMEMBERING ONE VETERAN
“Land, we must have land” was the cry of many newcomers to America. North Dakota offered 360 acres if a farmer could face the hardships and stay on the land. Many came.
Fast forward to the Nodak Cafe in Ellendale and our group of about eight coffee drinkers. Our talk was of a North Dakota war hero. His name was John Wheelihan, who was in his late 80s at that time. But as we sat at coffee, John might have been carrying in wood or cleaning a pathway.
One of the ladies mentioned John began school in a one-room school taught by his mother. His parents homesteaded because they loved Ellendale, and they saw a lot of value in land. But John enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and became a combat pilot. He spent several years in college to master his craft and was a big help in victory in World War II.
He began his flight training in San Antonio, Texas, and was invited to attend a prestigious school in Leavenworth, Kan. With a high ranking in his class, he was sent to scientific training at Orlando, Fla. John’s plane was a P39 Bell Cobra, which was a radically new design. It was built around a cannon and not an engine. It had a pointed nose that shot through the clouds at high altitude. (This bomber would fly above John’s grave in tribute to Major Wheelihan’s war career.)
During his lifetime, he spent 69 years in the VFW and American Legion, 32 years as a Mason and 24 years a Ready Reserve USAF. He was passionate about his military career and his fellow veterans.
In one of John’s interviews, he reported one job was his greatest – being married.
One morning over coffee, we heard John had died at 103 years old. We are proud of him and the full military salute to his craft at his funeral, even accompanied by the kind of plane he flew in the war, contributing more to North Dakota history. And North Dakota concurs with Ellendale as we say, “Rest in Peace, John Wheelihan. And thank you for your service and a life well lived.”
History is made one man at a time.
Joan Jones
Former member of Dakota Valley Electric Cooperative
UPCOMING READER REPLY QUESTIONS
DECEMBER: What is your favorite Christmas tradition?
Deadline for submission: Nov. 11
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