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Feature Stories (Vol. 109 No. 50--12/12/2007)

Honor Flight is filled with special moments for WWII veterans

By Caroline Downs

Sixty-two years after completing their duties with the U.S. military and coming home to restart their lives, Oscar Kostad and John Odland joined 230 other World War II veterans for a celebration of their service during the WWII Honor Flight in Washington, D.C., held the first weekend in November.

"It was really something," said Kostad. "I’ve been to Washington, D.C. three times before, the last time probably twenty years ago. This was awesome! I thought it was really well done."

Kostad is a former Kenmare resident who has lived in Fargo since 1992. Odland divides his time between Kenmare and Fargo. Both noticed the Honor Flight advertised locally in Fargo and registered in the hope they would be selected to go.

"It was open to anybody in North Dakota and Minnesota," said Kostad. "The ones who went were mostly from the Red River Valley area, but there were some scattered from the western part of the state and one from South Dakota."

"It was an opportunity open to all World War II vets," Odland said.

Three Honor Flights during the past year recognized nearly 600 veterans. The trips were sponsored by the Fargo American Legion, the WDAY broadcasting company in Fargo, and a variety of other area businesses, with contributions coming from across the region. Kostad and Odland were scheduled for the third flight.

The veterans traveled from Fargo to Dulles International Airport on a chartered 747 airplane that also transported nearly 200 spouses, health care providers, escorts and other support staff for the weekend. From the moment they entered the airport, the group enjoyed first class service.

"When we left [Fargo], Governor John Hoeven and [chief of staff] Ron Rauschenberger were here to give us a send-off," said Kostad. "Rauschenberger is an old buddy from way back. He lived next door to us when he was a third grader!"

Odland appreciated a handshake from the Governor, as well as the musical and military tribute from a band and color guard. "That was quite a nice thing as we took off," he said.

The Honor Flight arrived in Washington, D.C. Friday afternoon. The group was quickly divided among eight buses and sent on their tours. Odland and Kostad were separated, but had the opportunity to meet some of their fellow servicemen.

"I sat by one veteran who could still wear his Army uniform," said Odland.

"My roommate was Cyril Keller from Fergus Falls, MN," Kostad said. "He and his brother were machinists during their time in the Army. Later, they invented the original Bobcat loader, but then it was called the Keller loader."

Kostad’s group toured the Korean War Memorial, Vietnam War and the Lincoln Memorial that first afternoon, before rejoining all the veterans at the Hyatt-Regency Capitol Hill for a banquet. Former ABC news anchor Sam Donaldson presented a keynote address, and North Dakota Senator Byron Dorgan and Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman and Senator Amy Klobuchar made brief remarks. "They also shook hands and spoke personally with the veterans," said Kostad.

A special highlight for Kostad that evening was the presence of his daughter and her husband, Kristie and Dal Nett, who joined him at the banquet from Bel Air, Maryland. "Other people had family come, too," he said.

The second day began for Kostad with a visit to Arlington National Cemetery. "We drove around there, then stopped at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier for the changing of the guard," he said. "This was a very impressive ceremony and holds a special message for all veterans, I think."

He noted that a large crowd, including school-aged children as well as the veterans, gathered for the ceremony, and that two children and two adults were selected to place the wreath at the Tomb. "That’s quite an honor," he said. The veterans’ group also visited the John F. Kennedy gravesite while at the National Cemetery.

The veterans continued their tour, which included a stop at the Iwo Jima Memorial honoring U.S. Marines who served during World War II. The highlight of the visit, however, was the National World War II Memorial itself, dedicated in 2004.

"I’d never seen it before," Odland said. "I was kind of wondering what to expect, but I was pretty impressed."

"[Former U.S. Senator] Bob Dole got on each bus to meet us," said Kostad. "He brought congratulations and spoke for five minutes or so. That was pretty special."

The veterans spent nearly three hours at their memorial, walking around and taking photographs. They were distinguished as a group by the royal blue Honor Flight jackets they had been given the previous day, and both Kostad and Odland were overwhelmed by the response from other tourists at the site.

"Anybody you talked to or visited with there congratulated us," said Kostad.

"I was quite impressed with the people who came up to shake our hands and thank us," Odland said.

All too soon, the tour ended, and the veterans boarded their plane back to Fargo. The day had more surprises in store, however, when the flight landed and all the support personnel were told to leave first. Then, as the veterans themselves left the plane, another crowd of 400 to 500 people greeted them in the Fargo terminal.

"The whole group was clapping and cheering and hollering," said Kostad. "People were just crowded in there and there was a band again. A group of Girl Scouts presented a white carnation to each veteran."

"I couldn’t believe all the people at the airport!" added Odland.

"It takes 30 to 40 minutes for everyone to get off the aircraft," Kostad said, "and they were cheering for us that whole time. People were congratulating us on a job well done. It was awesome! That’s the only thing I could say."

Kostad was a corporal with the U.S. Army Air Force. "I got a letter from the President that said, ‘We want you,’" he said.

He served in England and France from March 1944 to August 1945 and worked primarily as a communications technician at an air base. "Our small company went to serve communications for wing headquarters," he said.

Kostad recalled C-47 planes and CG-4 gliders transporting troops and materials from the base. "We carried paratroopers from the 82nd and the 101st at different times," he said.

His own duties concentrated on using teletype, radio and especially telephone. When he returned to Kenmare, he converted his military experience into a position with Northwestern Bell Telephone and spent 37 1/2 years with the company, including 28 years in Kenmare. "Everybody knew me as the ‘telephone man’ in Kenmare," he said.

Although he and his wife left the community 15 years ago, they stay in touch through relatives, including Jan Kostad and Jane Kalmbach, and friends.

Odland served with the U.S. Navy from 1944 to 1946, joining at the age of 17 one day following his graduation from Kenmare High School. He spent all but two and a half months of his time in the Pacific Theater, based at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. As a quartermaster, he assisted the navigator. "We still used a sexton then," he said. "We had radar, but we didn’t have computers!"

His ship was attached to an amphibious unit of the Marines and carried troops, boats and supplies for invasion. "We weren’t the first wave to go in, but we went in shortly after," he said, adding that supplies and water for the troops would be unloaded in landing boats before Marine casualties were taken on the ship.

Odland described a particular mission when the ship was loaded with 1,700 casualties. "And we had one cargo hold filled with Japanese prisoners," he recalled.

When he returned to civilian life after the war, he took advantage of the G.I. Bill to attend Concordia College for a year. A job at Peterson Chevrolet in Kenmare, where he had worked during high school, drew him back to Kenmare, however. By 1947, he was selling parts full-time for the company, and in 1950 he started investing in the business, which he eventually owned until selling in 1985. "It was a great community to be in business like that," he said of Kenmare.

The 2007 World War II Honor Flight was offered at no cost to WWII veterans in the region, with the hotel room and all meals covered. "Everything for the veterans was free," said Kostad, "except the souvenirs."

"I’d like to thank the...businesses and individuals who donated money to send three plane loads of people to the [World War II] Memorial," Odland said. "I’m thankful a community would do that!"