Flight of the Honored
<p>The World War II memorial is a gathering point for many who visit Washington, D.C.</p>
<p>North Idaho veterans, from left, Norm Kolbeck of Coeur d'Alene, Eb Sutton of Sagle and Glenn Mannie of Post Falls stand together in Washington, D.C. They were part of the Inland Northwest Honor Flight who toured the nation's capitol and Arlington National Cemetery on Tuesday.</p>
<p>Norm Kolbeck pauses in front of the Iwo Jima memorial.</p>
<p>A guard stands on duty at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.</p>
"Honor" was obvious in airports in Spokane, Phoenix, Baltimore and Seattle this past week. "Honor" was thankfully unavoidable at shrines and military memorials and along the sidewalks and streets in Washington, D.C.
A children's chorus from Priest Lake Elementary School sang to these honorable men Monday as they flew from the Spokane airport. Many of these kids gave the men homemade frames so they could display their memories. A duet and trio of children sang to the men during their flights to Baltimore.
The pilots and flight attendants on their Southwest Airlines jets announced the veterans' presence over their public address systems and the other passengers in the planes cheered and applauded.
As the veterans arrived at airports and memorials, men of all ages greeted them, shaking their hands. Military men in uniforms saluted them. Women grinned, grabbed the veterans' shoulders and hugged them.
People asked them about their hometowns and where and when they had served with the military. A few well-wishers were immigrants from Great Britain and Germany. One woman said a U.S. Army man occupying Germany in 1944 gave her the first ice cream cone when she was 5 years old. After meeting them, the smiling people shook the men's hands and hugged them again. Some cried.
The honored men are the 34 veterans of the Inland Northwest Honor Flight who toured the nation's capitol and Arlington National Cemetery on Tuesday, flying over from Spokane on Monday and back Wednesday. These veterans of World War II and the Korean War were honored with the trip provided by citizens, organizations and businesses so they could see the new World War II Memorial to their fight for freedom.
This Honor Flight, the eighth from the Inland Northwest in the past two years, included men from ages 84 to 98. Several volunteers and family members accompanied the men from Eastern Washington, North Idaho and Western Montana. Other relatives and friends from back East joined them when they arrived.
The men from North Idaho were Eb Sutton of Sagle, Glenn Mannie of Post Falls and Norm Kolbeck of Coeur d'Alene. Originally from Burlington, Vt., Sutton, 92, joined the Army in 1942. After schooling in Aberdeen, Md., he was an equipment operator at a military base in Lichfield, England, and then was a tech sergeant at a camp of captured German soldiers in France.
He was discharged in 1946 and returned to Vermont. He moved to Salem, Ore., and then to Sagle south of Sandpoint. He had two daughters, both deceased, and no grandchildren. Sutton said the highlight of the Honor Flight trip for him was the sincere recognition by the other passengers on the airplanes.
Glenn Mannie, 89, was raised near Devil's Lake, N.D. His stay with the Army was in 1944-45 in Camp Blanding, Fla., where he was honored as a marksman. Following his discharge he worked for oil companies for 37 years in Williston, N.D., and came to Post Falls in 2004.
Mannie has daughters Gloria Schaak in Post Falls and Linda Martin and Marcella Klinger of Billings, Mont. His son Randy died in 1981, and his wife Phyllis died in 2007. His grandson Don Klinger accompanied him on the trip.
"The thing that shook me on the trip was the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier," Mannie said.
Although his parents, Tony Kolbeck and Inez Culler, were originally from Coeur d'Alene, Norm Kolbeck, 84, was born in western Washington. The family returned to Coeur d'Alene where he was raised and educated. He lied about his age and joined the Navy at 16 in 1945 in San Francisco. He was a pharmacist's mate third class after boot camp at Farragut Naval Base on Lake Pend Oreille and pharmacy school in San Diego.
He boarded the USS Barnes aircraft carrier in San Francisco and toured all over the South Pacific during the war as his ship delivered fresh aircraft and retrieved worn ones.
"When the war was over we were 100 miles south of Wake Island, then Guam, then Tokyo," Kolbeck remembered. "In September of '45 I was a Navy corpsman. Tokyo was devastated. All that was standing was MacArthur's office building and the emperor's palace."
Kolbeck served for two years after the war at Barber's Point, Hawaii, and returned to North Idaho in 1947 and worked for Ohio Match Co. As a reservist, he was called back into the Marine Corps for the Korean War in 1950. He tore a left knee when he fell into a foxhole in Korea and was evacuated to Hawaii and later the Naval hospital in Bremerton, Wash.
He returned to Coeur d'Alene and sold cars for Wendle Ford in Spokane for 21 years, retiring in 1991. He has three children, three grandchildren, three great-grandchildren and special friend Marilyn Bell.
"I had my share of traveling during the wars, but of all the places I've been, the best is Coeur d'Alene," Kolbeck said. "The people taking care of us on this Honor Flight trip were absolutely wonderful. The sights were something I wanted to see all my life."
All three men were asked about the highlight of their trip before their arrival in Spokane. Their choice may have changed there because as they left the airline gate they heard a band playing patriotic songs. And as they reached the lobby hundreds of people were there to greet, applaud, hug and honor them.
It was indeed a high honor for the return of the Honor Flight.
How to help
• Contributions to Inland Northwest Honor Flight allow area veterans to tour the World War II Memorial and other sights in Washington, D.C., and Arlington National Cemetery with all expenses paid. For information on how to contribute or how to participate check www.inwhonorflight.org.