JENISON — A local Vietnam veteran will get the honor of a lifetime this September when he and his son are flown to Washington, D.C., completely free of charge.
Two years ago, Bruce Burkel and his family applied for Honor Flight, a nonprofit that organizes trips for veterans to see the capital’s memorial sites. After making it to the top of a 1,100-person waitlist, he and 74 other veterans will make the trip, along with their travel companions.
Burkel was born and raised in Bay City. He graduated from high school in 1967, and volunteered for the draft after deciding he didn’t feel ready for college. He joined the Army in January 1968, and enlisted for an extra year to become a radio repairman following basic training.
He was stationed in Germany for just under a year, and was sent to Vietnam in June 1969. He was initially stationed with the 1st Signal Brigade outside of Saigon, which managed all communications across Southeast Asia. He said that this was “pretty good duty as far as duty in Vietnam went” and had barracks and “enlisted men” clubs. Because there weren’t any field radios to repair at their base, he worked as a perimeter guard…