Wheeler Takes Part in Honor Flight
James Lester Wheeler said he’d like to see the World War II Memorial.
Wheeler is one of 73 veterans from 41 counties across Kentucky who will be taking part in the Honor Flight to Washington D.C. on Saturday, April 22.
Wheeler is the only one from Mercer County going this year. He will be one of the 42 veterans of the Korean War as well as one of the 20 Navy veterans going to the nation’s capital.
Wheeler, who was born at his parents’ home on Dry Branch Road in 1931, said he joined the Navy “to stay out of the Army.”
Even though his career only lasted four years (1951–1955) Wheeler got to travel to Hawaii, Hong Kong, Japan, Vietnam and Korea. He even got to participate in a atomic bomb test called Operation Wigwam.
“They try to make you out to be a hero. That’s the most overused word in the English language,” Wheeler said. “I didn’t want to go over there, but now I wouldn’t take nothing for it.”
To learn more, check out this week’s issue of The Harrodsburg Herald.
“They try to make you out to be a hero. That’s the most overused word in the English language,” Wheeler says today. “I didn’t want to go over there, but now I wouldn’t take nothing for it.”
