EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is part of an ongoing series about volunteers in the Greater Grand Forks community.
GRAND FORKS – When Don Roberts went on the Honor Flight in May 2017, he found the experience so meaningful that he came back determined to give other veterans the same opportunity.
“If I got to go, I wanted everybody else to go,” said Roberts, who retired as a gunnery sergeant after 20 years of service in the U.S. Marine Corps – service which included the Korea War and two tours during the Vietnam War.
In July of 2017, he took it upon himself to begin organizing fundraising events to send area vets on the Honor Flight of North Dakota/Minnesota to visit their war memorials and other historic landmarks in Washington, D.C.
“We’ve been doing it ever since,” he said, noting that his whole family is involved. His daughter will be making her third trip this spring as one of the volunteers pushing veterans in wheelchairs.
In November, the Herald asked readers to nominate residents who exemplify the spirit of volunteerism in the Greater Grand Forks community. It generated more than two dozen responses, prompting the Herald to publish an ongoing series about volunteerism during the holiday season.
Roberts has organized raffles and auctions at the American Legion, VFW and Eagles clubs, enlisted restaurants to give a portion of their sales on selected dates, and hosted a concert at his church – all to send more area vets to the nation’s capital.
In November, the Herald asked readers to nominate residents who exemplify the spirit of volunteerism in the Greater Grand Forks community. Roberts was one such nominee.
On the Honor Flight trip, all the veterans’ expenses, including transportation, hotel, food and admission costs, are covered and all safety and health care needs are met. Priority is given to older veterans and those who are terminally ill.
In recent years, the two-day trip has been expanded to three days. The next two flights are scheduled to leave Grand Forks early Easter Sunday morning, April 20.
During the 2017 Honor Flight trip, Roberts was most impressed by how well-organized the program was and the value of connecting with other veterans who served when he did.
“We got to see everything,” he said. “I got to meet other veterans. I got to spend some time with them.”
Witnessing the Changing of the Guard Ceremony at Arlington Cemetery and viewing the original Declaration of Independence document, under glass, in the National Archives proved to be quite memorable, he said.
He recalled, as he walked out of the National Archives building, “some young kid saluted me,” he said. “He was maybe 10 or 12 years old – a school-age kid anyway. I thought, well, by golly, now maybe I am a hero.”
He also was moved by the “mail call,” part of an evening banquet program when the vets received a packet of letters collected earlier from their friends and family members. The letters were a means of thanking the veteran for their military service.
Warren Strandell, of East Grand Forks, who volunteers for the Honor Flight fund-raising events, said Roberts is a top fund-raiser for the program in North Dakota and Minnesota.
“He works basically full time, raising money. He’s out campaigning and asking businesses and others for money. He works almost every day on it,” Strandell said, noting that he, with Roberts, “worked all of the UND football games (this fall at the Alerus Center).”
“Don has gone to Moorhead, Grafton, Roseau, all over,” Strandell said, “and it’s all volunteer, no payment.”
Each Honor Flight trip costs about $230,000, he said. “About 95 veterans go on each trip at absolutely no cost to them.”
Strandell, who served in the North Dakota Army National Guard, with the 231st Medical Clearing Company in Grand Forks, was called to active duty during the Berlin Crisis in the early ‘60s.
He went on the Honor Flight in the spring of 2022.
Roberts doesn’t know how many fund-raising events he has spearheaded over the years, he said, but he will organize them anyplace he gets invited. He’s held events in Grand Forks and East Grand Forks, Bemidji, Oslo, Warren and Thief River Falls, Minnesota, he said.
It’s not uncommon for him to have to persuade veterans to apply for the Honor Flight, he said. “They don’t deserve it, they say.”
Roberts recalled one such veteran from Crookston.
“I had to talk him into going,” he said. “Now every time I see him, he says he’s so happy that he got to go,” and his wife has become a volunteer for the fundraising events.
The Honor Flight program has not been the only focus of Roberts’ activities. He has also volunteered for Altru Health System and helped build seven or eight houses for the local Habitat for Humanity program, he said.
Overall, in his efforts in support of the Honor Flight program, he is grateful for “the best community that could ever be,” he said, “because if it wasn’t for them, we would never send a vet.”
When seeking support or special actions, Roberts said, all he needs to do is mention that the proceeds will go for the Honor Flight “and they get it done.”
He still marvels that the Grand Forks Mayor’s Office authorized a fire truck, years ago, to pick up a veteran at a hotel and transport him to the Honor Flight departure at Grand Forks International Airport.
One of the most heartwarming aspects of the Honor Flight experience, Roberts said, is witnessing the veterans’ reactions when they return home and see hundreds of well-wishers cheering and waving U.S. flags at the airport.
“Seeing them come off the plane with tears in their eyes,” he said, “that’ll keep us going for another year.”