VINALHAVEN, Maine — Buddy Skoog said he is thrilled at the opportunity to travel to Washington, D.C., this weekend to see the National World War II Memorial for the first time.
Skoog, a Navy veteran who served three years in the Pacific during World War II, is getting that opportunity, thanks to a new resident of the island who helped create a national organization that provides free flights to veterans to see the nation’s war memorials firsthand.
Earl Morse moved to Vinalhaven in December and works as a physician’s assistant at the Islands Community Medical Services medical center in the community of nearly 1,200 people located 15 miles off the mainland from Rockland. Morse is retired from the Air Force and from the Veterans Administration.
Nine years ago, he was working at a Veterans Administration clinic in Springfield, Ohio, where 300 patients were being served. Morse said he was talking with one of his patients, who commented that he had many friends whom he wished had been able to see the World War II memorial that opened shortly before Memorial Day in 2004.
Morse spoke with other patients who also expressed a desire to see the memorial. But as months went by, he realized because of their age and physical condition they were not going to see the memorial unless they received some assistance.
Morse, a pilot, talked with the local aero club in Springfield and soon the club had recruited six pilots who agreed to fly and accompany — at no charge — 11 World War II veterans to Washington, D.C.
The only two conditions Morse placed on the effort were that the trips be free for the veterans and that the guardians who accompany them would have to escort the veterans to the memorial.
The flights began and a waiting list was created. He soon found, however, that he was getting telephone calls from relatives of those on the waiting list that their loved ones had died.
“I didn’t get a lot of sleep that first year,” Morse said.
The word spread and now the organization, Honor Flight Network, operates in 43 states. Since its inception, the group has flown more than 117,000 veterans to Washington, D.C.
But there is no Maine chapter, something that Morse said he wants to change. In a rural state like Maine, charter airlines will be important to the effort and he said Kevin Waters of Penobscot Island Air was eager to help.
Penobscot Island Air will be flying four veterans Friday from the island airfield to Portland, where they will then connect for a flight to the nation’s capital and visit to the war memorials. The island air service will pick them up when they return to Portland on Sunday and bring them back home, all at no cost.
Waters said he is glad to be a part of this first effort in Maine and hopes to take part in growing the network throughout Maine.
“I look at these guys and hear their stories. They had guts that allowed us to be free,” Waters said.
On this trip will be one World War II veteran, one from the Korean War and two from Vietnam, along with their escorts.
Skoog, 86, is the only World War II vet making the trip from Vinalhaven. He said he is one of four World War II veterans left on the island but the others do not feel strong enough to make the trip. Skoog said he could not say enough good things about Morse and Honor Flight.
“What a great thing this man is doing for us,” Skoog said. “He is showing not just respect for us but for those who did not quite make it back.”
At 86, Skoog said he did not expect to see the memorial. He is a native Vinalhaven resident who used the GI Bill after the war to attend Maine Maritime Academy in Castine. He worked three years as a merchant mariner before being employed for 30 years with the Maine State Ferry Service.
Clarence Conway, the Korean War veteran who will be making the trip from Vinalhaven, said he too is excited about the opportunity. Conway served as a crew chief for a fighter bomber during the Korean conflict.
Conway, 78, said he plans on taking a lot of photographs to show to other veterans he knows upon his return to the island.
Fred Small served a year in Vietnam in the Army combat infantry in 1967-68, including during the Tet Offensive. He said when he returned home from Vietnam, no one asked about his service or what occurred over there.
This trip, the 68-year-old lifelong educator said, will offer an opportunity for healing and closure.
The veterans going on the flight all know each other but Small said he expects the trip will create an even greater bond between them.
While retired, Small was substitute teaching at the island school on Wednesday. The educator has worked at schools in Presque Isle, Mount View, Rockland, Somerville and Vinalhaven.
The community support for this inaugural honor flight in Maine has been complete, Morse said, including the school.
A lasagna dinner took place Monday evening at the island school to raise money for the trip. Students created artwork to get out the word. The meal raised more than $1,000. A movie about Honor Flight was also shown, a film that Small said was very moving.
The veterans will be treated to a luncheon at the school on Friday before they fly to the capital.
They will make stops at the World War II memorial, the Korean War Veterans Memorial that opened in 1995, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial that opened in 1992, and for the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.
Morse said he is happy to be a part of this program.
“When they pass, their stories will pass. We need to know that our freedom came at a very high cost,” he said.