Washington County, WI – On Saturday, November 6, 2021, Air Force Veteran Thomas Albinger of West Bend, WI, will be taking to the skies on the Stars & Stripes Honor Flight with his son, Lee, also of West Bend.
Albinger, 78, enlisted in the United States Air Force when he was 17 years old with a four-year commitment. His military career involved civil engineering. “It consisted of plumbing, heating, electrical work, carpentry, or whatever. My specialty was heating,” said Albinger,
Albinger went to boot camp in Texas, then landed at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California working at Strategic Air Command, where they “fired a lot of missiles,” and earned a Presidential Award at that time. He then spent 18 months at Lajes Air Field.
As far as sightseeing during the Honor Flight, Albinger said, “The Korean War Memorial is what I’d like to see most. My brother-in-law served there.”
Following his time in the service, Albinger returned to West Bend and worked for Shetzel Oil Company (now Yahr), driving an oil truck. “Forty-five years later I retired from being an oilman,” he said.
“After I got out of the service I met a gal,” said Albinger, “I had just gotten home and was at my cousin’s…we went over to Steve and Mary’s Minor Bar in Kewaskum, I think it’s Amerahn now. I saw this blonde standing there.” Albinger learned his future wife, Patti, was a beautician at Evelyn’s Beauty Shop in West Bend.
Albinger and his wife, Patti have been married for 57 years. Their son, Lee, will be traveling with Albinger on the Honor Flight; their daughter, Lori, also lives in West Bend. They have four grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
Born and raised in West Bend, Albinger considers himself a “true Bender.”
Other veterans from Washington County on the Saturday, November 6, 2021 flight include:
Army Veteran Thomas Buschke of Hartford
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
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.
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