Last month, several Coulee Region World War II veterans got an opportunity many thought they’d never have. In a whirlwind one-day trip, the group flew to Washington, D.C. to visit the newly created World War II Memorial, which opened in 2004. Included on that flight were two La Crescent veterans, Burton Morris and Ossie Helgerson.

The trip was made possible through the Freedom Honor Flight, Inc., a national, non-profit organization that includes a branch in La Crosse n its first in Wisconsin n that serves veterans within a 120-mile radius of the city. It operates without government funding, and relies on donations to make trips like this possible. The group hopes to have two flights per year, with the next one possibly coming in June.

Morris and Helgerson were joined by 111 other veterans October 8 on the flight that left from Colgan Air Services near the La Crosse Municipal Airport. It was a short visit, as the plane returned at 10:30 p.m. that evening. But for those few hours in the nation’s capital, many veterans fulfilled their dream of seeing the war memorial dedicated to their service.

In World War II, Morris served in the Navy as a quartermaster on the U.S.S Rixey, a ship designed to pick up injured soldiers on the beaches and transport them to more advanced hospitals. It was his duty to keep the log, assist with navigation and take the helm. He was one of the younger people on the ship, as he wasn’t inducted into the Navy until May 1944, but put in two years of service before the war ended in 1946.

Helgerson was a member of the U.S. Merchant Marine in 1943. After basic training, he shipped out on a tanker that sailed to many ports in the Caribbean. He joined the Liberty ship in 1944 and was in convoy at all times between New York, England, and Scotland. From Europe, he traveled to Murmansk, Russia, where his convoy came under heavy attack. Finally, though, he made it back to U.S. and decided he had enough of the ocean. The war raged on, so he joined the Army in 1945, and shortly after, the atomic bomb was dropped, so his unit shipped out to Italy.

Morris first found out about the trip by reading about it. He was then contacted by fellow Riverfest Commodore Randy Eddy, who is also on the board of directors of Freedom Flight. Eddy encouraged him to go on the flight, and Morris instantly agreed. He’s been to Washington a number of years ago and visited several other memorials, but it never crossed his mind to go back to see the one dedicated to himself and his comrades.

Helgerson, too, knew he wanted to go when he heard about it. He’s talked to other veterans who had sons who brought them to Washington, and he asked them to bring him a picture so he could see how the Merchant Marine was represented at the memorial. But because of Freedom Flight, it was a trip he was now able to make himself. Helgerson has also seen the other war memorials, but said when he was there, a World War II Memorial wasn’t even a thought.

But the day finally came, so that morning, after leaving La Crosse at 7:30 a.m., the group arrived in D.C. around 10:15 Eastern Standard Time. After a box lunch, the group boarded a bus for the World War II memorial, where the veterans spent about two hours studying its various features. The day they visited, there were over 1,000 other veterans there, Morris said, who came in on eight Freedom Flights from around the country.

While at the memorial, both men recalled their time at war. Morris said it brought back memories of his service, and he felt a sense of pride just by seeing the memorial and knowing it was created in honor of him and the other veterans. Helgerson was with a couple people he knew, one of which was a prisoner of war. These people, he said, stood in front of the portion of the memorial that affected them.

“There were a lot of wet cheeks,” he said. “The Merchant Marine Memorial is beautiful…It was really outstanding, but they’re all outstanding.”

“It’s breath-taking,” he added.

Seeing how the other veterans reacted to their memorial affected Helgerson just as much as his own experience.

“It had a profound affect on everybody, because there were many guys standing with their head down meditating,” he said.

Following their time there, they continued the day by seeing the Vietnam Memorial, the Korean Memorial, the Iwo Jima Memorial, and the Air Force Memorial. They spent about half an hour at those places. Then towards the end of the day, they had another meal before boarding the jet and flying home that evening, where the UW-L marching band and hundreds of friends and relatives greeted them at the airport.

But Morris didn’t leave Washington before a coincidental encounter. While eating, he saw another veteran with a U.S.S. Rixey hat, so he walked up to him and said hello.

“I tapped him on the shoulder and said, ‘Hi, mate,’” he said. “He turned and said, ‘You were on the Rixey?’ And I said, ‘Yes,’ and we talked for a few minutes.”

The two men didn’t know each other by name, but knew they have served over 60 years ago together on the same ship, and that they didn’t live far apart. He was from Rochester, which had a group there that day as well.

On the flight back, the veterans were treated to mail call, just like they were used to during the service. Ahead of time, organizers had asked friends and relatives to write short notes to a veteran they had on the trip, so when the plane left the ground, the mail was passed out and the veterans had something to read on the way home. Morris got 24 notes, all of which he has saved in a scrapbook.

Both men are grateful for the opportunity they had to see the World War II Memorial.

“I’m truly thankful to all the people who donated to (the flight) who made it possible,” Morris said. “It was a nice gesture.”

All veterans who were on the flight are invited to a reception at Northwoods Elementary School in La Crosse Nov. 11. Students from that school participated in the early-morning send-off that day. Then on Nov. 15, there’ll be a reunion for the veterans at the La Crosse Center.