Richard I. Bong Center Honors Veterans on the 80th Anniversary of D-Day

The center raised the flags to remember the lives lost, while also supporting current veterans

SUPERIOR, Wis. — June 6th marks the 80th Anniversary D-Day, a turning point in World War 2 for the Allies. The Richard I. Bong Veterans Historical Center in Superior honored the lives lost in the invasion.

Veterans, friends, and family gathered to raise the American and Prisoner of War flags Thursday morning. Members of American Legion 435 then played Taps and performed a 21-gun salute. They typically raise the flags on Fridays, but this week they made an exception for D-Day.

“For all of us, it’s very special,” said American Legion 435 Member Ryan Jost. “We’re all ex-military people, retired. Many of us are older, so we have one member who is from the Korean War, the rest are from Vietnam and post-Vietnam era. So we know what battle is like, we know what serving in the military is like. We just want to honor those who gave their all for us and our freedoms.”

The Bong Center focuses on not only honoring veterans who have passed, but supporting those who are still with us. Each year, the center has an all-expense-paid trip to the Boundary Waters to canoe, fish, camp, and just relax.

“They come together as strangers but then they leave as family, basically,” said volunteer Duane Lasley. “They form strong bonds and we’ve had some veterans that have had their first experience talking to other veterans about their service because that’s not facilitated anywhere else typically.”

The Bong Center is currently looking for more veterans to join the trip at the end of July, Those interested can go to bongcenter.org and visit the ‘Events’ page for more information.