Navy and Air Force band veteran resides at Wellhaven
Bob McLawhorn wasn’t thinking about much when he made the decision to join the armed forces.
“I was just walking down the street one day and saw a sign that said, ‘I want you.’ So, I walked into the building, chatted with a guy, and joined the Navy.”
Bob attended basic and specialized training at the Naval School of Music. While there, he joined the United States Navy Band. His main instrument was the baritone, but he also knew how to play the trumpet, trombone, and tuba.
Bob spent four years in the Navy traveling to several places, including Jacksonville, Florida, and Korea on the battleship USS New Jersey. After leaving the Navy, Bob joined the Air Force.
For the eight or nine years he was in the Air Force, he had several different assignments, all while continuing to play brass instruments in the band.
Today, Bob resides at the Wellhaven Senior Living in River Falls, Wisconsin. Through an acquaintance at the River Falls American Legion, Bob was given the opportunity to participate in a one-day trip to Washington, D.C. in fall 2017.
The trip was available to veterans through a La Crosse-based organization called Freedom Honor Flight. The goal of this program is to simply fly veterans at no cost to Washington, D.C. to visit the memorials that stand in their honor. To date, more than 1,800 veterans have participated in the program.
Bob is only one of 80 veterans currently residing in a TLHA care community. In our 120th year of caring for souls, we are honoring both our veteran residents and team members. Our history begins with one family’s loss during the Civil War. A 15-year-old Ernst Boessling from Belle Plaine volunteered to serve with the Minnesota troops. He died in September of 1863 in service to his country at Vicksburg, Mississippi.
His mother, Sophie, had saved the government death benefits she received all the years after Ernst died. Wanting to provide a home for others like herself, she donated the money and her family’s farmland to build das Alten und Waisenheim—the Aged and Orphans’ Home. Now more than a century later, Sophie’s gift continues to benefit countless lives.
TLHA has active senior living, assisted living and memory care communities in Belle Plaine Minnesota, and River Falls, Fountain City, and Watertown, Wisconsin. Looking for a place to call home? Visit www.tlha.org/communities.
