Washington County, WI – It’s been over 30 years since 80-year-old Army Veteran Thomas Buschke of Hartford, WI, has been to D.C. which is why he is looking forward to the Stars & Stripes Honor Flight he’ll be on board with his son, Ronald, of Sussex on Saturday, November 6, 2021.
Buschke enlisted in the United States Army for three years but was extended another six months. That was back in 1961 when he was stationed in Aschaffenburg, Germany. “They stopped all troops from coming home,” said Buschke, “I could not come home.”
Buschke went to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, for basic training followed by AIT (Advanced Individual Training) in Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, for artillery, initially landing a position in Germany as an artillery radar operator. “I attended the 7th Army Non-commissioned Officers Academy,” said Buschke, “I served very well.”
As Buschke shares his military experiences, he has one story that may cause folks to take pause. “I received my Good Conduct Medal one and a half years ago,” said Buschke. That’s one and a half years ago as in 2019; sixty years after his time in service.
“I didn’t like to talk about the Army. I guess I was a little bitter because I didn’t get my Good Conduct Medal.”
According to Buschke, his son, James, also of Sussex, started calling people and writing letters to inquire about the issue without letting on he was doing so.
Unbeknownst to Buschke, the family made a plan to have a so-called graduation party that required Buschke’s attendance. “My wife, Dolly, was with me at the time,” said Buschke, “We thought it was for a graduation party and then [James] came over and handed me a bag and in the bag was several boxes. Each box had a medal; one was a Good Conduct Medal., one was a Defense Medal, and the other ones were my Marksman and Expert for firing rifles awards.”
The story gets better. Buschke’s granddaughter, Andrea, has been a volunteer working with the Stars & Stripes Honor Flight and, Buschke said, “She kept saying to me, ‘Grampa, you ought to go on the Honor Flight.'”
“I didn’t feel worthy of it,” said Buschke, “Finally, she told me ‘Grampa, you’re qualified to go.'”
“You gotta understand,” he said, “I wasn’t in Korea and I was not in Vietnam. But I was in the Vietnam era.”
“I didn’t care,” said Buschke, “I was bitter. I’m pretty stubborn and I was still upset about that Good Conduct Medal after 60-some years, you know?”
The love and encouragement of ‘s family, as well as the presentation of the former missing Good Conduct Medal, softened Buschke’s heart, “My attitude started to change.” Buschke gave permission to Andrea to move forward with a nomination for the Honor Flight.
Following his term of service with the Army, Buschke went on to a career in the industrial x-ray business in Milwaukee. He was introduced to the field by a relative that he worked for around 7 years. “I x-rayed everything but people,” he said.
Buschke then worked for Allis-Chalmers in the X-ray department for 15 years.
He became self-employed, worked for 20 years in the x-ray business, sold part of his company in Milwaukee, then semi-retired, and moved to Tennessee with his wife for 10 years, “I kept part of my business which was x-raying aircraft.
“People would call me. I had a pickup truck with a dark room on the back where I could show it to them. My wife and I would hop in the truck and go. I was nothing to go 1,000 miles.”
Buschke claims he ‘officially’ retired about 15 years ago. That was when he and his wife moved back to Wisconsin, Viroqua to be exact, where he bought 40 acres of farmland and started raising grapes and making his own wine. “It wasn’t commercially,” Buscke said, “I could only make 300 gallons a year. My family would come up to help me when it was time to harvest. We’d pick lots of grapes.
“I had a setup in my garage where my grandson and I would go in there and crush the grapes and get the juice out, and then we’d start the winemaking process. After so many months the wine would be ready and now we had to bottle it, so my kids would come up and there’d be six or eight of us bottling wine.”
Buschke’s vineyard hobby was never meant to become a money-making business, “I never sold any. I just gave it away.” He eventually gave up the vineyard and they moved back to the Hartford area to be closer to their children. “We were hoping to live happily ever after,” he said.
Butschlick was married to his wife, Charlotte “Dolly” for 57 years. Dolly passed away one and a half years ago.
“I have a cousin that was killed in the Vietnam and his name is on the Wall, so we are going to see that,” said Buschke, who is looking forward to this opportunity to tour D.C.
Other veterans from Washington County on the Saturday, November 6, 2021 flight include:
Air Force Veteran Michael Darvin of Hartford
Coast Guard Veteran Kenneth Weddig of Kewaskum
Army Veteran Glenn Bogenschneider of Slinger
Air Force Veteran Michael Carney of Slinger
Air Force Veteran Thomas Albinger of West Bend
Army Veteran Charles McCormick of West Bend
Army Veteran Donald Pape of West Bend
Stars and Stripes Honor Flight is the Milwaukee area hub of the Honor Flight Network. Founded in 2008, Stars and Stripes Honor Flight has flown more than 7,600 WWII, Korean War, and Vietnam War veterans from southeastern Wisconsin on one day, all-expenses-paid trips to Washington D.C.
