The last time Bill Stephenson laid eyes on the nation’s capital, he was peering out the window of a train that carried him from Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base in North Carolina to his parents’ home in Minnesota. The U.S. was on the brink of entering World War II.
Stephenson, a World War II veteran, recently got to experience the sights of Washington again in a different capacity at 94 years old. He traveled there with four other residents of the Veterans Community Living Center at Fitzsimons in Aurora on May 12.
“I never thought I would be able to do that in my life,” he said.
The veterans took a four-day tour of war memorials, stopping to pay homage to fallen soldiers and look back on their time in the military.
Wish of a Lifetime, a Denver organization that helps seniors accomplish their goals, organized the trip, which guided the veterans through the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the Korean War Veterans Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, the National World War II Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery, the Air Force Memorial and the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.
“We try to do at least two of these big group trips to Washington, D.C., every year,” said Sally Webster, director of community outreach for Wish of a Lifetime.
Webster noted that the organization would take another group to Washington in the fall.
The experience was an emotional one for the most recent group, which included veterans from World War II and the Vietnam War.
“Sometimes, you get real sad and emotional and your eyeballs sweat,” he said. “It was just very sad, and I was wishing that these guys that I came to pay homage to could hear me or be with me.”
Before the veterans took off from Denver International Airport, a group of about 100 gathered outside the terminal to pay their respects. The support continued when they were greeted by a crowd in Washington and as strangers approached them at each monument.
“One of the things that was so nice is that there were so many youngsters,” he said. “Being an old guy, you don’t often get a chance to experience the kids. They just said, ‘Thank you for your service.’ ”
Those interactions made the trip special for Josiah Shurtleff, a 75-year-old Vietnam War veteran.
“That was something else,” he said. “I was really proud. They were very, very, very loving and passionate.”
Robert Grause, a 70-year-old Vietnam War veteran, said he was struck by the sheer number of people who died in the Vietnam War. He recognized several names as he perused the list etched into the monument.
“I felt empty,” he said. “They were good people. It sticks with you for a while.”
Grause, a member of the 173rd Airborne Unit, was stationed in Vietnam from 1967 until 1969. But he remembers his time at war like it was yesterday. Visiting Washington only made the memories more vivid.
“It gave me a good feeling that I was alive,” he said. “I will take that with me. It’s one trip I will not forget about.”
