Female veterans on Wisconsin honor flight honored in Washington

WASHINGTON (Gray DC) - World War II veteran Emily Ruth Fish looks out at the memorial built in her honor.

“I’m flabbergasted,” Fish said, as she joined more than 80 female veterans at the site.

The women were invited to travel onboard the Badger Honor Flight from Wisconsin to Washington, D.C. Saturday. The trip marks the first time ever the flight was made up of a majority of female veterans.

“When we decided to do this, we had 30 female vets signed up. When we announced we were having a female flight, now we have 80 on the flight, and that was after a month-and-a-half,” said Steve Bartlett, communications director for the Badger Honor Flight.

Bartlett added, “We thought maybe it’s time that we really made a focus and tried to get the women here, because they had an important role in all of our missions.”

The female flight marks the 41st time the Badger Honor Flight has come to D.C. The funding for the trip was made possible through a female donor.

“There was a woman who worked for the Moose Lodge, or was a member, and was selling tickets for us and stuff, and she was just enamored by what we did,” said Bartlett. “And when she passed away, she left us enough money that we could actually fund an entire flight.”

Friends Pat Beckett and Brenda Harris were also onboard the flight. The pair have been friends since kindergarten and joined the service together during Vietnam.

“She decided she wanted to join and asked me if I wanted to go along with her,” said Beckett.

The friends told the Gray Television Washington News Bureau there were lots of laughs onboard the flight to D.C. They said they were very excited the trip was made up of a majority of women.

The Wisconsin Badger Honor Flight has one more flight coming up this summer. It will take place on June 4.

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