Arne Rasmussen plans to see “whatever there is” in the nation’s capital.

And for John Whitrock, a lot of the things he will see will look and seem familiar.

All three are military veterans from northern Iowa who will be traveling on the May 22 voyage of the Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight.

The Honor Flight is a one day whirlwind tour of the nation’s war memorials in Washington, D.C. The adventure will begin at Fort Dodge Regional Airport before the sun rises that day and will conclude at that airport late that night.

-Messenger photo by Bill Shea
Veterans wearing red Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight caps fill the large room in the main building at the Webster County Fairgrounds Wednesday evening for the banquet held in advance of the May 22 trip to Washington, D.C.

In Washington, the veterans will see the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the Korean War Veterans Memorial, the World War II Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery, the United States Navy Memorial, the United States Marine Corps War Memorial and the Air Force Memorial.

The roughly 110 veterans going on the trip and their families were the guests of honor at a banquet Wednesday evening at the Webster County Fairgrounds.

That’s where veterans like Robison reflected on their service and the upcoming trip.

Robison, of Iowa Falls, served in the Army’s 2nd Battalion, 32nd Field Artillery from 1970 to 1971. While in South Vietnam, he routinely shoved 200-pound shells into massive cannons.

“It’s been on my bucket list,” he said of the Honor Flight.

-Messenger photo by Bill Shea
John Robison, left, of Iowa Falls, and Jay Trecker, of Coon Rapids, chat during Wednesday’s banquet for the veterans who will be traveling on the Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight on May 22. Robison is an Army veteran; Trecker served in the Navy and Naval Reserve.

He said he’s never been to Washington before. He wants to see the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The names of some of his friends and classmates who were killed in war are on that black wall.

At the banquet, he was sitting next to Jay Trecker, of Coon Rapids, who is a veteran of the Navy and Naval Reserve. Trecker’s wife, Ruth, also a Navy veteran, was on the September 2023 Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight.

Jay Trecker has been to Washington before. He wants to see the monument to Navy sailors who served in Construction Battalions.

Asked what he wants to see in Washington, Rasmussen replied with a laugh “whatever there is.”

The Milford man served in the Navy from 1960 to 1964. He recalled that some time after graduating from high school he was talking with a buddy and the other young man said “I think we should join the Navy.” So the two went to the recruiter’s office in Spencer and enlisted.

-Messenger photo by Bill Shea
Veterans wearing red Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight caps fill the large room in the main building at the Webster County Fairgrounds Wednesday evening for the banquet held in advance of the May 22 trip to Washington, D.C.

Rasmussen was a radio man who served on the aircraft carrier USS Hornet and later on two different destroyers, the USS Tingey and the USS Gurke.

He sailed the Pacific Ocean, visiting Pearl Harbor, Japan, Hong Kong, the Phillippines, Guam and South Korea.

Whitrock, of Milford spent his Army career in and around Washington. From 1967 to 1969, he was a member of the 3rd Infantry Regiment based at Fort Meyer, Virginia. Called The Old Guard, that unit does a lot of ceremonial work in the nation’s capital. He recalled that his unit worked at up to three funerals a day at Arlington National Cemetery.

When former President Dwight Eisenhower died in 1969, Whitrock carried the presidential flag in funeral ceremonies in Washington and Eisenhower’s hometown of Abilene, Kansas. He said Life magazine printed a photo of him at the Abilene funeral with the presidential flag blowing straight out in a stiff wind.

More than a few veterans preparing for the May 22 trip were encouraged to go by other veterans who had been on previous trips.

“I was told if you have a chance to go, don’t miss it,” said Army veteran Les Mann, of Alta.

Army veteran Noel Johnson, of Denison, had a similar experience.

“I was encouraged by another fellow from Denison who had been on the Honor Flight,” he said. “This is an honor.”

Johnson, who served in the 3rd Mechanized Engineers from 1962 to 1965, has visited Washington previously.

The upcoming trip will be the 25th one conducted by the Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight organization. The first flight took place in 2010. Since then, about 3,500 veterans have gone to Washington aboard the flights.

“What an amazing thing for the Brushy Creek Honor Flight organization to do,” Fort Dodge Mayor Matt Bemrich said during his welcoming remarks at Wednesday’s banquet.

Donations totaling about $2.4 million have paid for all those flights.No corporate sponsors have paid for any of the flights.

Wednesday’s meal was served by Fort Dodge Senior High School students who are members of the National Honor Society and the Health Occupations Students of America.