
Remembering the Big Sky Honor Flight This Memorial Day
As we head into Memorial Day, I was thinking back on the 2014 Big Sky Honor Flight to Washington, D.C.
I got to tag along with a plane load of WWII veterans from Montana as they got to see THEIR memorial in our nation's capital.
One of the most powerful moments of that trip was when I just happened to be walking along with a small group of WWII veterans and their chaperones. Many of the veterans would use wheelchairs simply because there was so much ground to cover in addition to the WWII memorial.
At one point, this 92 year old WWII veteran uses both of his arms to lift himself out of his wheelchair and stand up. He then used the small American flag the veterans were carrying to point to a name on the wall. It was the name of his own son, Thomas Dellwo, who was killed in Vietnam.
It was over 40 years after he lost his son in Vietnam, but I remember him talking about how fresh that loss still felt.
To caption the photo above, I wrote on Facebook at the time:
92 year old WWII veteran Jim Dellwo of Choteau stands up from his wheelchair to point to his son Tom's name on the Wall.
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund lists Thomas Dellwo as being born on December 22, 1946. He was injured in Bien Hoa province and then died of his injuries on March 15th, 1971. You can click here for photos of him as well.
A writeup on the Association of West Point Graduates website has a great tribute to Dellwo. The writeup says Dellwo gained "star-man status" at West Point.
All who lived near his room remember the cries of “Dellwooo” resounding through the halls as nearly everyone sought his academic wisdom.
According to the writeup by Gerald Burgess, Tom Dellwo "completed the Field Artillery Basic Course at Fort Sill, and then successfully completed Airborne and Ranger Schools at Fort Benning. On 13 April 1970 Tom began duty in Vietnam. He participated in the Cambodian invasion as an advisor to the South Vietnamese Army and later commanded B Battery, 2nd Battalion, 19th Artillery of the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile)."
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