Walt Daehn sells poppies each year at the Mobil On the Run station. Few realize the what he sacrificed for his country and that he earned four bronze stars. When you see Mr. Daehn on Memorial Day, stop to thank him for his service.
Walter J. Daehn embarks on an adventure tomorrow Wednesday, November 18 with his daughter Shannon Daehn Lang of Owensville when he takes his place on the WW II Honor Flight to Washington, D.C. to visit the Veterans WW II Memorial.
Walt Daehn entered the Medical Service November 17, 1942. He trained in Arkansas and California. He embarked to Europe on December 5, 1943 for the European Theatre of Operation and served in engagements in Normandy, France, Rhineland, and Central Europe, where he earned four Bronze Stars and a Unit Citation. Daehn was a member of the motor pool that took medical representatives into the Dachau Nazi internment camp in Germany the day after it was liberated. Memories of the filth, death, and inhumanity stay with Daehn to this day. Daehn has earned his seat on the Honor Flight.
A few months ago, Daehn, encouraged by Shannon, signed up for the Honor Flight Network program that flies veterans with no charge to visit the WW II Monument in Washington, D.C. He was passed up for an earlier flight, so daughter Shannon called the program representatives to check on the situation. Since her dad was 93, she wanted him to go while he was healthy enough.
Daehn attended this year's Veterans Day Candle Ceremony and had the chance to reminisce with other vets.
Representatives told Shannon that her dad was eligible and would have gone on an earlier flight, but they didn’t have enough Guardians to accompany veterans, but Daehn was still on the waiting list. Guardians are representatives that accompany two veterans on every flight. Then the representative that Shannon was speaking to asked if she would be interested in becoming a Guardian and told her that she could request who she would go with so that she could accompany her dad.
Shannon asked what being a Guardian would entail. She was told that she would have to take a training class, would be responsible for traveling with and assisting two veterans, and she would have to pay her own way. Shannon found this all acceptable, took the training, and leaves tomorrow with her dad. A military historian will photograph the visit, and each veteran receives a disk with the images. Shannon said, “I am going to video the experience so that my kids will have a record of my dad doing this.”
The first Honor Flight took place in May 2005, after the WW II Memorial was completed and dedicated in May 2004. The flights were initiated when it was realized that most of the WW II veterans, who were in their 80s, did not have the physical or financial resources to make the trip on their own. According to 2008 statistics, we are losing 1000 WW II veterans a day, so time is of the essence in transporting them to the memorial in Washington, D.C. The program started in Ohio then spread across the states with vets flying on commercial airlines through the Honor Air program. Grateful Americans have made this program possible.
After Daehn served his country in WW II, he returned to Cuba, married, raised his family, and served the community. He was a mechanic, city councilman, VFW member, and volunteer firemen. Wednesday, Daehn will be paid back in a small measure for his contribution to the country through this trip of a lifetime.
Our blog will post photos when Daehn returns from his flight and his daughter will offer her account of the trip.
Walt Daehn attended the dedication of the Cuba War Memorial in Nov. 2008. He still takes pride in his service to his country.
The Blue Bonnet train took many of Cuba's young men away to WW II.
Leave A Comment