Music Makes an Army Veteran Dance
Willard Bardon was only 18 years old when he was drafted into the United States Army. He attended basic training at Camp McCoy in Wisconsin focused on learning how to build bridges.
Willard served from 1951 to 1953 during the Korean War. Following his training, he was stationed in Heidelberg, Germany. Rather than helping to build bridges, he was in charge of 150 soldiers and one of his jobs was to lead daily exercises.
Willard often shares the story of the time he got sick while stationed in Germany, so sick in fact, that he had to spend time in a hospital where he received blood transfusions.
Willard returned home in 1954 and married Joan. Today, Willard lives at The Lutheran Home: Belle Plaine. Because of his veteran status, he recently had the opportunity to fly in a World War II era biplane. This experience was made possible by the Ageless Aviation Dreams Foundation, a non-profit organization founded in 2011 to honor U.S. military veterans living in long-term care facilities. The biplane was a 1942 Boeing Stearman, which had been used to train military aviators in the 1940s. Each veteran enjoyed a 20-minute ride.
“I wasn’t very happy at first because I would rather be on the ground,” Willard explained, “But he (Darryl Fisher, pilot, founder and president of the organization) said, ‘Looks like Willard wants to go first’ and I did. I was a little scared, but I whistled the whole way.” Willard has enjoyed life at The Lutheran Home: Belle Plaine and often participates in activities to stay busy.
“There is always something going on. I like to play Bingo and listen to the music on the lawn because I like to dance,” he explained.
Willard 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 and Mankato, Minnesota, and River Falls, Fountain City, and Watertown, Wisconsin. Looking for a place to call home? Visit www.tlha.org/communities.