News : Veterans, guardians preparing for Sept. 14 Honor Flight

Jim Arbuckle of Vinton will be guardian for WWII vet Francis Conway of Keystone for Honor Flight.

Raela Uthoff, right, of Vinton, is one of many Honor Flight volunteers.

Francis Conway can tell you exactly how long he served in World War II.

“I was in the Navy,” he said. “I served in the South Pacific. I was in for one year, nine months and 27 days.”

Conway, of Keystone, is one of 99 World War II veterans who will leave on a plane this Tuesday for the day-long trip from Iowa to Washington, D.C., and back.

As far as war stories go, Conway has fewer than many other WWII vets.

“I was aboard the USS President Abrams,” he said. “I was an APA 19. I got to be a storekeeper, and I worked in the ship’s bank.”

Conway says he really cannot remember any combat experiences, although his ship “landed a lot of troops on beaches.”

“I am one of the younger ones,” said Conway, age 83. “I went in when towards the end of the war, in June of 1944.”

The role of Guardians: To make sure vets enjoy visit

Conway will be escorted by guardian Jim Arbuckle of Vinton.

“I hope he has the best time of his entire life,” said Arbuckle. “That is my purpose in going – to make sure that he does. I hope he enjoys every moment of it.”

Along with the 99 veterans, there will be more than 60 guardians. While most of the veterans can walk on their own for short distances, more than 30 of them will require the use of wheelchairs as they visit the memorials. Each veteran in a wheelchair has one guardian. For veterans who can walk during the trip, one guardian is assigned to assist three of them.

While some veterans will be accompanied by sons, daughters or neighbors, many of them will be accompanied by guardians they had not met before orientation on Sept. 2.

Arbuckle’s mother is Raela Uthoff, whose husband Roger is the finance officer for the Eastern Iowa Honor Flight organization. Raela Uthoff has taken one trip to Washington, D.C., as a guardian. She also assists at Honor Flight events and orientations.

“I just like to see the reactions to the different things of the veterans,” she said. They are so grateful and so excited to go – that’s the main thing I like. I get excited for their excitement.

The Honor Flight is a “wonderful experience” for the veterans that leaves them saying it was one of the best days of their lives, says Uthoff.

“Any veterans who can ever get the chance to go, they should definitely go,” she said. “They will never regret it. It’s so heart-warming to see the joy that they get out of it.”

The next Eastern Iowa Honor Flight leaves at 7 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 14, from the Eastern Iowa Airport in Cedar Rapids.

Honor Flights are available free to World War II veterans, although the Cedar Rapids organization has a waiting list of more than 250 veterans. For more information, visit www.ncihonorflight.com.