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Discovering The Mature Lifestyle

Bloomington veteran founded Bridging and still finds ways to volunteer.

Page 3

Veterans May Issue

May 20, 2016

Air Force ties run in Rosemount veteran’s family

BY SUE WEBBER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

laxation) in Okinawa on my birthday, and they called me back to the base and dragged me over t here. Things w ere dis combobuJoe Ar mitage co mes f rom w hat he calls “ a t otal Air lated then.”

Force family.”

After he was dis charged, Ar The Ros emount r esident j oined t he Air F orce a t ag e mitage served in t he Air Force 18, a fter graduating from Benilde High School. He was Reserve f or 21 y ears. “ I was stationed in Okinawa, and served on active duty in Viet- in England for backup durnam from 1962-66. He was assigned to communications. ing the Libya air strike,” he “I wasn’t a grunt; those guys have my undying respect,” said. he said. “I got away clean. I was o n R & R (r est and reFollowing his military s ervice, A rmitage worked in his fa ther’s printing co mpany f or 22 y ears. After the shop was s old, Ar mitage worked for a co mpany that handled government co ntracts a nd then in c ustomer s ervice f or a co mpany t hat sold software for printers.

He re tired f rom t he USAF Res erve in A ugust 1992 a nd f rom ci vilian employment in 2007. He has since joined the American Legion.

“I volunteer at the VA (Minneapolis Veteran’s Administration Medical Center) every Friday morning,” Armitage said “My wife volunteers as a gr eeter and I help transport patients. We enjoy it. We see a lot of young people who have never been in th e service and still volunteer there.”

The Armitages are among 1,800 people who volunteer at the VA an average of four hours a w eek, according to a spokesperson for the Minneapolis VA Medical Center.

He a nd his wif e have tw o daughters a nd tw o gra ndJoe Armitage joined the Air Force at age 18, after gradua ting sons. from Benilde High School. (Submitted photo)

His dad s erved in t he Ar my Air F orce during World War II, his oldest daughter has served in the Air Force for 20 y ears, a nd his s on-in-law also is in the Air Force.

“I re tired f rom t he Air F orce Res erve o ne month, and my son-inlaw took over my job,” Armitage said.

He no w do es some wo rk as a professional ph otographer, hel ping with p ortfolios for mo dels and some co mmercial shoots, Ar mitage said.

“I love it,” he added.

“Actually, t he Air Force tra ined me as a s till p hotographer while I was on active duty when I came back from overseas,” Ar mitage s aid. “ I got in terested in i t, b ut didn ’t pursue it s eriously u ntil ab out 1969 o r s o. I t hen st arted sho oting weekends and weeknights around my work schedules. I had a st udio in do wntown Minneapolis in the warehouse district with another photographer for a f ew y ears. We had t o gi ve u p t he st udio w hen digi tal photography t ook ho ld. We hel ped ho peful mo dels p ut together pictures for their portfolios, which were shown to modeling agencies and clients. I still fool around with it. It’s fun and challenging to get the best pictures for the models. It’s never been a full time thing.”

Page 2 Our Life • Friday, May 20, 2016

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Our Life • Friday, May 20, 2016 Page 3

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Bloomington Navy veteran founded Bridging, still volunteers

BY SUE WEBBER CONTRIBUTING WRITER Fran Heitzman had j ust graduated from B loomington H igh S chool in 1943, w hen, he s aid, “ all of a sudden, I f ound m yself in F ort S nelling.”

“I’m st anding in line wi th a whole bunch of guys,” he said. “The first 50 w ere t old t hey w ould b e in the Army; the next 50 would be in the Navy; and the next 50 in t he Marines.

We we re tol d w here we wou ld go , we weren’t asked.”

Heitzman was assigned t o s erve in t he Navy f or t hree y ears during World War II. “ Imagine an 18-year-old from Bloomington climbing onto a tr oop train going to boot camp, with the kerosene lamps swinging,” he s aid. “I was too scared to think about it. The farthest away from home I’d ever been was a 200-mile trip to Iowa, where my folks came from.

“I’d never been near a lake, but we had to learn how to swim 50 yards before they would let us out of boot camp.

My mom would never have a gun in our house, but there I was in aviation ordinance school with 50-caliber machine guns. While I was in N orman, Ok lahoma, for 18 w eeks, we had t o take them apart and put them together blindfolded. Try that on for size.”

Heitzman sur vived his y ears in t he s ervice, a nd r eturned home to Bloomington. “I’ve lived in t his town almost 91 years,” Heitzman said. “I’m what you call an oldtimer.”

Heitzman p lanned t o st art a la ndscaping business on Lyndale Avenue South in Bloomington after he got out of the N avy. B ut a fter his mo m s aid t he ci ty needed a dr y cleaner, Heitzman changed directions and, with $2.75 in a cigar box, worked with his brother to establish a laundry at 98t h and Lyndale. The brothers had a n old tr uck and rented a building for $25 a month.

He’s ne ver r etired since t hen. “ I tr ied t o r etire t hree times,” H eitzman s aid. “ It’s no t f or me . G od ga ve me a voice to help somebody.”

In 1987, w hile H eitzman was t he c ustodian a t P ax Christi Catholic Church in Eden Prairie, a woman brought him a piece of furniture and asked if someone could use it.

Heitzman located a social service agency that would take it.

That sparked his idea for Bridging, an organization that collects gently used furniture and gives it to people who need it.

Since Heitzman founded Bridging in 1987, it has grown

to an organization with a $2.7 millio n budget, occupying lo cations in B loomington a nd Roseville. It has served more than 75,000 people in need since i t began. Bridging has 32 employees, and a roster of 6,000 volunteers, 800 of whom are regulars.

An a verage o f 80 t o 100 fa milies are hel ped e ach w eek. “ We ha ve a great st ory t o t ell,” H eitzman s aid.

“Success is ho w ma ny p eople we helped to day. Think about t he veterans who go through here. They are the true heroes.”

Churches a nd o ther lo cal o rganizations such as the Kiwanis contribute by purchasing f urniture ki ts, p utting t hem t ogether, and do nating t hem t o B ridging. “ We p rovide t he t ools,” Heitzman said. A local restaurant and a local church that were g oing t o dis card 200 c hairs ga ve t hem t o B ridging instead, he said.

“We don’t take junk,” Heitzman said. “We don’t want to insult someone’s dignity. If you have something you’d give to a neighbor or relative, we’ll take it.”

His p hilosophy i s th at “ we h ave t o tak e ca re o f ea ch other because we’re all in this together.”

Even at the age of 91, Heitzman continues to volunteer six days a w eek at B ridging. “ This p lace k eeps me ener gized,” he said. “Whenever I get tired, I go home and take a nap. I had a quintuple heart bypass 23 years ago, and got a pacemaker five years ago. I’ve still got all my marbles. I don’t let anything stop me.

His wif e o f 67 y ears, Jeanne, w ho died in 2013, “ was my rock,” Heitzman said. “We met at a da nce at Kimball School on t he corner of 86t h and C edar,” he s aid. “ That was the best dime I ever spent. It was a little white school, and a guy played the accordion for Friday night dances.”

The co uple ra ised six s ons a nd a da ughter. Heitzman has 15 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.

When he ’s no t hel ping o ut a t B ridging, H eitzman speaks to local organizations and churches about the need for donations. In February, he went to the Fridley School District to meet with students who were donating 91 tied blankets to Bridging. The students had a birthday party for Heitzman that day, as well. In March, he was at Buck Hill for the 18th annual Bedrace for Bridging.

Growing up during the 1930s, Heitzman knew what it was to be poor. “I grew up during the Depression,” he said.

“People shared what they had.”

His mom worked as a welder at a defense plant at 94th and N icollet. B oth pa rents e ventually w orked t he 3-11 p.m. shift at Twin Cities Ordinance.

Heitzman r ecalls Chr istmases w here he a nd his f our

Fran Heitzman went into the Na vy after gradua ting from Bloomington High School in 1943. (Submitted photo) siblings were given a Chr istmas tree, and their gift was a bag of apples and oranges. “Our mom p opped corn and we decorated the tree,” he said.

His oldest brother lost his life in the service at the age of 21; a younger brother served in the Seabees.

Heitzman has b een a mem ber o f t he B loomington American Legion for 63 years. “They’ve done a lot in this community for a lot of people,” he s aid. “I’m proud to be a member.”

As the only living charter member of the Bloomington Lions, Heitzman said, “I speak there a lot.”

He also is one of only three or four remaining members of t he 36 p eople in B loomington High S chool’s Class o f 1943.

His seven children, all of whom live within five minutes of his home, keep a c lose eye on him, Heitzman said. He admits that because he has family living nearby, he doesn’t have to cook much, though, he adds, “I make a mean bacon and eggs.” He still plays cribbage and poker regularly, Heitzman said.

Page 4 Our Life • Friday, May 20, 2016

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Keeping society’s covenant with today’s veterans Society mak es cer tain covenants wi th i ts co nstituents: e ach co venant is a p romise — a pac t — a n irrevocable co mmitment.

One such co venant is to honor i ts v eterans. I t’s a social contract worth keeping. Here’s why.

My dic tionary defines a veteran as “ someone w ho has s erved in t he a rmed forces.” The o perable w ord is “ served.” Rega rdless if their time o f d uty was in peace o r wa r, all v eterans have given up special years of t heir li ves, a bsented themselves fr om h earth and ho me a nd dela yed personal, ed ucational a nd career p lans t o s erve a nd defend t heir co untrymen.

Many h ave ri sked th eir

Guest column ... by Bob Ramsey lives. Some have given their lives — or worse. Obviously, society owes its veterans a huge debt.

To our credit, we tr y to recognize o ur v ets. W e’ve set aside a national holiday to honor them with speeches, cer emonies, c losed o ffices a nd f ree b reakfasts.

We recognize them at public e vents t hroughout t he year. We ha nd o ut medals and build monuments. We pay f or agin g v eterans t o visit the World War II Me-

m morial. We e xchange tal es o of h eroism f rom e ach of o our wa rs. We ext end ed uccational be nefits t o ma ny.

A And gi ve o ur v eterans sspecial b urials in sp ecial p places. S o w e’re k eeping tthe co venant. Rig ht? N ot so fast.

There’s a da rk side to o.

Despite th e e fforts above, we ha ve t housands (y es, thousands) of veterans who have been let down and left out. The richest country in the world still has veterans who ha ve lost t heir ho me, their job, their families and their f uture. Veterans w ho are h ungry. V eterans li ving under bridges. Veterans relegated t o p overty a nd forced to resort to panhandling or crime to survive.

Honoring veterans is a social contract worth keeping Likewise, we ha ve ve terans who are hurting and not g etting hel p. V eterans suffering f rom undiagnosed mental and emotional illn ess. Veterans h ooked on drugs with no access t o treatment. E ven w orse, w e have a veterans’ health care system t hat t akes t oo lo ng to do too little for too few.

In shor t, we ha ve ve terans w ho a re sic k, tir ed, poor, dep ressed, dep rived, alone and forgotten. What’s wrong with this picture?

I’m in m y 80s no w and, starting with my father, I’ve known v eterans o f e very major conflict f rom World War I t o o ur r ecent m ultiple Middle East missions.

Most o f t hese v eterans a re remarkably alik e. They ’re not her oic figures; they’re just o rdinary men a nd women who believe in doing the right thing. They ’re proud o f t heir s ervice a nd don’t b egrudge t he s acrifices t hey’ve made f or t he common g ood. The y like the idea that they did t heir duty a nd s erved t heir nation w ell a nd do n’t exp ect any fame, fortune or favors in r eturn.They k ept t heir part o f t he ba rgain wi th society, no w, i t’s s ociety’s turn.

Some p undits s ay w e should me asure a s ociety by ho w i t tr eats i ts c hildren — o r its elderly — o r its poor. But I wonder if we should me asure a s ociety by how it treats its veterans.

By t hat me asure, ho w are w e do ing” D o w e deserve a medal f or ho w w e honor o ur v eterans? Or is o ne v eteran wh o i s s till suffering t oo ma ny? And are t housands suffering a covenant unkept? What do you think?

Bob Ramsey is a lifelong educator, freelance writer and advocate f or “V ital A ging.”

He resides in St. Louis Park and can be r eached at 952922-9558 o r b y e-m ail a t joyrammini@comcast.net.

St. Louis Park Navy veteran runs podcasts from his home

BY SUE WEBBER CONTRIBUTING WRITER Rich Erickson found his life’s work while he s erved in the U.S. Navy from 1964-70. And he also found a secondslong part in a movie.

Erickson, a 30-y ear S t. L ouis P ark r esident, t aught Morse code to a B oy Scout troop while he was a st udent at Central High School in L aCrosse, Wisconsin, and also spent three years teaching the Scouts basic ham radio theory to prepare them for the various ham radio test levels.

He joined the Navy Reserve as a junior in high school, during the summer of 1964. “I took my basic training for six weeks at the Providence, Rhode Island Naval Base,” Erickson said. “When I graduated from high school in June of 1965, I w ent into active duty for six years. I was in radio s chool in N orfolk, Va., f rom January t o April 1966 for equipment operations and to become certified to train others.”

Erickson went to Charleston, South Carolina, then to Cuba, a nd e ventually t o V ietnam. A s a R adioman Fir st Class, he was assigned to set up a 250-watt radio station.

“While I was ac tive in t he N avy, I ma intained a nd trained other new personal on radio operation and basic trouble-shooting p rocedures alo ng wi th r unning radio code nets,” Erickson said.

While in Sa n Francisco from January to June of 1968, Erickson s erved six mo nths a t t he F ederal B uilding t o

Rich Erickson has a podcast studio a t his home in St. Louis Park. (Submitted photo) help develop a radio monitoring system for listening to international developments around the world. “We worked with t he U .S. N avy, Ar my and Air F orce s ending inf o about installing co mmunication equipment (v oice a nd

code) between ships, planes and shore stations,” Erickson said.

He la ter flew t o S eattle f or simila r p rojects, Er ickson said.

“In the movie ‘Good Morning, Vietnam,’ I was in t he background for about five seconds,” Erickson said. “They had actual scenes of guys on the air.”

His dad s erved in t he Air F orce during World War II and was wi th the crew that dropped the bomb on Japan, according t o Er ickson. “ He w ouldn’t t alk a bout his s ervice years,” said Erickson, whose brother served in the Air Force for four years.

Erickson has s ome memo ries f rom his o wn s ervice years. “One day w hen I was in t he transmitting room, I heard a h uge explosion at a r estaurant across the street,” he said. “It was blown up. There were bodies everywhere. I helped where I could. I get sick thinking about it.”

He also recalls being part of a rescue during a storm at sea, when a Greek freighter was on fire and sinking in the Atlantic.

“I was o n nig ht d uty mo nitoring t he shi p-to-shore frequencies w hen I r eceived an SOS co de mess age f rom a Greek freighter that was o n fire and sinking,” Erickson said. “I contacted the officer on duty and he immediately contacted Fleet Command. We changed course and headed o n a r escue missio n, a rriving a t t he dis aster si te five ERICKSON - TO PAGE 5

Our Life • Friday, May 20, 2016 Page 5

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Erickson FROM PAGE 4

hours later. Our shi p was designa ted t he main rescue and recovery site. “I went out on a cable and helped pull people out of the cold water before it sank.

Unfortunately, we could not get everyone out.�

Erickson r eceived mili tary a wards f or his ac tion f rom b oth t he U.S. and Greek governments. “ I didn’t co nsider myself a hero,� he s aid. “I was j ust doing my duty to save lives.�

His in terest in b roadcasting was sparked when he was j ust 14, a nd a fa mily friend put him on the air. “He had me read the news, commercials and weather,�

Erickson s aid. “ The owner of t he st ation was listening and said, ‘He’s good.’�

As a youngster, Erickson recalls taking apart a transistor radio his father had and putting it together again.

His next radio exp osure o ccurred while he was a t C entral H igh S chool in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, where he was a D J three nig hts a w eek on a lo cal radio st ation.

Erickson a ttended t he U niversity o f Minnesota and Hennepin Technical College in Eden Prairie, was a draftsman for a time, and then because certified in audiovisual. He did video conferencing work in private industry. “I did public service radio, too,� Erickson said.

After he retired, he set up a pod station with a f riend. “ I was in troduced t o t his new t echnology a f ew y ears ag o a nd got together wi th M att Anders on, a f riend of mine w ho is a w eb designer,� Erickson said. “He and I w ent to HTC together in Eden P rairie. I ask ed him if he co uld b e my ma in distr ibuter o f m y p odcast p rograms a nd he did t his f or me usin g his computers as a s erver. We ha ve w orked together f or ma ny y ears o n n umerous

projects.�

Erickson’s 24/7 p rogramming o ffers everything f rom Glenn M iller b ig b and music to early rock and roll. “I p lay e arly r ock a nd r oll, B ig B and ‘30s, ‘40s, a nd ‘50s f ormat,  and b est o f ‘40s and ‘50s and band leaders and singers of that era,� Erickson said, adding that his 15-year-old son, Matthew, recommended the name for the show: Rich Ellis Oldies. “I will be involving him in some shows of his choosing,� Erickson said. “I have a room full of records and CDs, probably a few thousand vinyl albums,� he said. “People like to hear the big bands.

He has a full studio and turntable at his home. “When it’s quiet around the house, from 8 p.m. to midnight, I do my shows,�

Erickson s aid, adding t hat e ach program takes about two hours. “I sp end 30 ho urs a w eek researching information a bout t he r ecording a rtists and wr iting t he p rogram logs,� Er ickson said. “ This inc ludes r ecording time , w eb development,  meetings with my podcast engineer, a nd lo oking f or r ecords a nd tapes f or a ir p lay. We do s ome p rogram editing and research the latest technology for software updates. Matt and I meet with other podcast broadcasters to share ideas.�

He do esn’t ad vertise t he p od, b ut he estimates t hat it has c lose to 650,000 listeners w orldwide, inc luding p eople in Australia, Germany and Spain. “People find o ut a bout i t b y w ord o f mouth,� Er ickson s aid. “ We g et r equests via email. I plan to do this as long as I can.�

He and his wif e have one grown child and o ne gra ndchild a nd t hen ado pted two teenagers. “We’re really happy we did that,� he said.

Erickson is a member of the American Legion, and also active with a senior citizen group at Lenox Senior Center. “I lo ve w hat I do ,� Er ickson s aid. “ I keep busy and keep active. That’s the goal.�

Er ickson’s music is a vailable at w ww. richellisoldies.com

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Page 6 Our Life • Friday, May 20, 2016

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Golden Valley veteran spends his life working for peace

BY SUE WEBBER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Larry Johnson of Golden Valley said he took a minister with him w hen he sho wed up at t he draft b oard in 1970 because he planned to register as a conscientious objector.

“I wouldn’t deliberately kill people,” said Johnson, who found a niche during wartime as a U.S. Army medic without a weapon, and a lifetime niche working for peace.

“We were sent to field training unit in N eu Ulm, Germany,” Johnson said. “Because I had dr iven school bus as part of running trip camps for kids, I drove a 2-ton truck to Augsburg hospital each week for clinic supplies. B ecause I le arned G erman in hig h s chool, I tra nslated f or (a nd taught En glish) t o a B ulgarian do ctor t he a rmy hir ed t o do sick call.”

Johnson s aid he b ecame a v eteran f or p eace o n April 27, 1972, t he day he was dis charged from the U.S. Army, even though he didn’t know at the time t hat there was a n organization bearing that name.

Veterans For Peace, now an international group, states its purpose as f ollows, Johnson s aid, “Having s erved our country, we know how hard war is on soldiers and others.

We now dedicate ourselves to encourage all g overnments to lo ok f or no n-violent wa ys o f s ettling b efore s ending young people in to combat.”

Young v eterans a re slo w t o jo in t he gr oup, a nd t here aren’t a lot of World War II vets left, Johnson noted. “VFP is a p lace where veterans can go and talk, and people understand,” he s aid. “ I’ve s een i t w ork w hen no thing els e does. S ome p eople a re ne ver willin g t o t alk a bout w hat happened; a lot of veterans don’t dare say what they really think.”

Johnson noted that “an inordinate percentage of homelessness is v eterans, pa rticularly Vietnam v eterans, a nd I found m yself sp eaking a t s ome e vents w here b ig ba nks were foreclosing on Vietnam veterans. We need t o make sure to take care of veterans who come back.”

He was p resident o f VFP C hapter 27 in M inneapolis for five y ears, t hrough 2013. H e als o is a mem ber of t he American Legion. “Both organizations are created to fight for v eterans’ b enefits, a nd t hat sho uldn’t e ven have t o b e the case,” Johnson said.

He us ed t he GI b ill t o g et a t eaching cer tificate, and spent t he next 23 y ears t eaching st orytelling a nd do ing video w ork in t he M inneapolis S chool Distr ict. J ohnson took early retirement from the school district in 2006.

“Most of my in-school storytelling work was focused on environmental issues, but a great deal of outside storytelling was related to working for peace,” he said.

Collaborations with Elaine Wynne He and his wife, Elaine Wynne, work together on many projects r elated t o v eterans a nd p eace. “ Elaine is tra ined

Johnson and others rang Armistice Bells a t the F estival of Nations. A State Arts Board grant enabled 11 veterans to cast their own bells in the spirit of the 1918 Armistice. (Submitted photo) and has us ed tra uma t herapy f or y ears,” J ohnson s aid.

“She’s worked with EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing), w hich combines mind , b ody a nd psy chotherapy, for more than 25 years.”

“Elaine is a storyteller, too,” Johnson said. “That ’s where we met. We’ve been storyteller activists all our lives. She’s a therapist, and I’m an educator and media person.”

Since t he la te 1970s, t he co uple ha ve t aught ma ny, young and old, to use storytelling in their work as parents, grandparents, educators, and activists. In 1980 they originated “Storytelling as a M odern C ommunication Ar t” at Metro S tate University, t eaching i t f or o ver 10 y ears. I n 1990 they organized a national storytelling conference on “Storytelling and the Electronic Media.”

Johnson said he has been able to tell stories and teach storytelling in ma ny places, from the Hutton Yacht in t he Stockholm, Sweden Harbor, to the Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, to “opening” for C aptain Kangaroo at a co nference at the Kennedy Center. But, he says, his favorite place to t ell s tories s till i s n eighborhood sc hools, a nd wi th h is grandchildren.

More than 10 years ago, Elaine and Larry started holding annual “Cousin Camps,” with their now 13 grandchildren. It’s billed as “a week of fun, connecting, storytelling, video making, social justice, and loving the outdoors.”

Growing up in Bloomington A native o f B loomington w ho gr ew u p in a v ery r eligious fa mily, Johnson s aid. “ I co nsider myself a sp iritual person, but I’m not a f undamentalist Chr istian anymore.

My fa ther c hose a ho me a mile f rom w here t he M all o f America now is, so we could grow up in the country.”

“I w orked o n fa rms in B loomington t hrough hig h school,” Johnson said. “I ran camps for kids w ho were in trouble wi th la w w hen I was in hig h s chool. I lo ved t he outdoors and working with people.”

He p layed some f ootball in h igh sc hool, wrestled a nd ran trac k. A t t he sug gestion o f his g eometry t eacher, he went out for cross-country. That led to participation in the JFK 50-mile hike in 1961.

When he st arted college in t he mid 1960s as a sp eech major a t Augsburg C ollege, J ohnson was t hinking a bout a ca reer in t he ministr y. H e subs equently tra nsferred t o the University of Minnesota for the broadcast sequence. “I wanted to do a local children’s TV show,” he said.

He subsequently helped establish a TV channel at Children’s Hospital in the 1970s, a live call-in show designed so patients could participate. “We wanted something to take the children’s minds o ff their hurting, something fun,” he said.

Hiking for peace Johnson’s 61-Mile Hike when he was 61 y ears old was intended t o r eproduce t he 50-mile hik e. H e left at 6:10 a.m. on the #61 bus to Highway 61, walked to Lindstrom, Minnesota, for a 6:10 p .m. ceremony at the veteran’s memorial, in memory of his father, who died at 61. Johnson’s book, “Sixty-One,” due to be published in the fall, contains 61 short stories “reflecting many facets of why I took that hike,” he said.

This year’s 70-mile hik e, slated to coincide with Johnson’s 70t h b irthday in O ctober, will st art wi th a 24-mile walk t o N orthfield, t he first da y; t he s econd da y f rom Stanton to Red W ing; and t he t hird day f rom Red W ing to Stockholm, Wisconsin. “It will b e three days, 22 miles a day, with a few extra thrown in, to highlight the sad fact that 22 veterans a day choose to take their own lives,” Johnson said.

His grandson, a college student in LaCrosse, accompanied him on the 61-mile hike and plans to join him on the 70-mile hike, as well.

Johnson s till walks a l ot, in cluding h ikes a round th e Minneapolis lak es, b ut he’s st epping u p his tr eks no w in preparation for the 70-mile hike.

N ow w orking pa rt-time a t Pl ymouth C ongregation Church in M inneapolis, o n a p rogram f or ad ults wi th mental illness, Johnson said he often walks the seven miles home to Golden Valley from the church in Minneapolis.

He still recalls his grandfather, a World War I v eteran, saying to Johnson and his brother, “Boys, war is a horrible thing. I hope neither of you have to participate.”

“Deep down, that’s how most people feel,” Johnson said.

“We’ve got to figure out how to stop it.”

Our Life • Friday, May 20, 2016 Page 7

sunthisweek.com

New Brighton Navy veteran is book author, avid bridge player

BY SUE WEBBER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Armed with a degr ee in hist ory a nd religion, Veryle Henriksen in tended t o b e a coac h w hen he grad uated from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, in 1950.

“But the love bug bit me pretty badly,” said Henriksen, a native of Iowa w ho has li ved in N ew B righton for 24 years. He and his wife, Peggy, were married in 1950.

Henriksen jo ined t he N aval Res erve in 1950, a nd spent o ne summer in N ewport, R .I., a nd a nother summer in Treasure Island, San Francisco. He still recalls the old World War II N avy chief whose first order was t his: “Youse guys who swim st and over here; youse guys who don’t swim stand over there. When I get through witcha, everyone swims.”

At t he end o f six w eeks, t he chief told Henriksen he was the first failure. “I still can’t swim to this day,” Henriksen said.

He’d al ways t hought he had a str ong st omach, b ut Henriksen said he didn’t escape seasickness. “I was s easick even in the harbor,” he quipped.

From 1953-55, Henriksen was on active duty as a line officer in the Navy.

“I g ot in o n t he p risoner ex change in K orea,” H enriksen said. “I was present when the first prisoners were flown in f rom N orth K orea. They w ere so s kinny th ey could have stood sideways in the rain and not gotten wet.

It was a bright, clear afternoon. It was an awesome sight.”

After active duty, Henriksen’s attempt to return to the family fa rm in Cle ar L ake, Iowa, was s cuttled w hen a n accident with a manure loader broke his jaw in two places and made him reconsider his plans to be a farmer.

“I w ondered w hy I was ali ve t hen; I sho uld have been dead,” Henriksen s aid. “ I figured God had s omething in st ore for me. I felt called to the ministry.”

After a ttending Luther Seminary in S t. Paul a nd being ordained, he f ound himself back in t he Navy, this time as a chaplain.

He served as a chaplain on b oth ac tive a nd inacVeryle Henriksen is a Na vy tive duty, from 1959-1980, veteran. (Sun staff photo by based o ut o f Flo rida a nd Kassie Petermann)

Veryle Henriksen plays duplicate bridge every week at the New Brighton Community Center. (Sun staff photo by Kassie Petermann)

then Maryland. Henriksen then served in the Marines in North C arolina, followed by two years of s ervice as t he naval base chaplain in Iceland, and then spent three years in Rhode Island.

He recalls that a destroyer he was on just missed being chosen to pick up astronaut John Glenn, w ho was o n a space mission.

That wasn’t his last ne ar-brush with Glenn, ho wever.

Henriksen recalls the July 4, 1984, pa rade in Clear Lake, Iowa, w hen t hen-U.S. S en. J ohn Glenn, t he f ormer astronaut and retired U.S. Marine Corps pilot, was part of the parade. “He was about 50 yards away from me on the back of a convertible when the parade stopped,” Henriksen said. “It was all q uiet and I shouted out, ‘USS Noa.’ I gave him the high sign, and he waved at me.”

Henriksen has lastin g memories of Clear Lake, Iowa, where, he recalls, Buddy Holly’s plane went down a mileand-a-half from where he was born.

“My dad a nd I w ere b orn in t he s ame r oom in t he same house,” Henriksen said. “He was a n absolutely remarkable ma n. H e was a fa rmer wi th a n eig hth-grade education, b ut he s erved o n t he s chool b oard a nd t he county board of education and was a director of the bank.

My mom only had a ninth-grade education, but she was smarter than a lot of people who have doctorate degrees.”

Henriksen and his wife raised a family of three daughters a nd a s on. They als o ha ve 10 gra ndchildren (t hree of whom are triplet boys) and eight great-grandchildren.

The Henriksens spent seven years serving at a church in Hoffman, Minnesota, followed by 15 years of ministry in the regional treatment center for chemical dependency and mental he alth patients at t he State Hospital in F ergus Falls. Henriksen then served as the visitation pastor at Abiding Savior Lutheran Church in Mounds View and 11 years at First Lutheran Church in C olumbia Heights, before his last ministry, at Christ the King Church in New Brighton from 2011-14.

He claims he tried retiring five times and “failed miserably. I finally made it on the sixth try,” said Henriksen, who retired in 2014, after 55 years of church service.

An avid bridge player for 46 years, Henriksen has been playing duplicate bridge each Wednesday and Thur sday with s enior ci tizens a t t he N ew B righton C ommunity Center.

He also is writing a book about his life. Henriksen is a life member of the VFW in New Brighton.

Page 8 Our Life â&#x20AC;˘ Friday, May 20, 2016

sunthisweek.com

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