‘I’ll remember them the rest of my life’: Western ND Honor Flight volunteers give Korean war veteran memorable trip

BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) - Twice a year, volunteers with the Western North Dakota Honor Flight organize a trip to the nation’s capital.

Veterans get to visit the memorials in their honor. For many, it’s the first time they’ve been thanked for their service.

And although they don’t do it for the recognition, the volunteers are the reason these trips run so smoothly, even when things don’t go exactly as planned.

Case in point: last month, two volunteers made the latest honor flight extra memorable for one veteran.

Joe Harshe’s phone is filled with photos he took while in Washington, D.C., on the Western North Dakota Honor Flight. The Korean War Memorial was his favorite.

“Because that’s where I served,” he explained.

The 86-year-old enlisted in the Army while he was still in high school.

“My father had to sign for me because I was only 17 years old,” Harsche recalled.

He spent 18 months in Korea.

“I was born into a real patriotic family,” he said.

His dad and brothers all served in the Army, too.

“My dad was in WWII,” Harsche said.

On last month’s Honor Flight, he got to see memorials in their honor. But Harsche’s trip didn’t start out so great. He had a minor medical emergency and missed the entire first day of the trip.

That’s when two Honor Flight volunteers jumped into action.

“It was really special to me,” he said.

They took Harsche out for a nighttime tour of some of the monuments, including the Korean memorial.

“It’s really something to see,” he said.

And seeing it at night, knowing the volunteers went out of their way to make sure he got there, is something Harshe will never forget.

“I can’t thank them enough,” he said. “I’ll remember them the rest of my life.”

Those Honor Flight volunteers who took Harshe to see the memorials at night did not want to be on camera.

They say they didn’t really do anything special, and in a statement, they said, “Any volunteer of the Western North Dakota Honor Flight would be honored and blessed to be able to do this for a veteran in this situation. Our actions are 100% for the veterans as we thank them for their service to our country.”