GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The Grand Hall of the Gerald R. Ford International Airport was a sea of red, white and blue on Wednesday night as Mid-Michigan Honor Flight held a “Welcome Home” ceremony for 77 veterans who flew to Washington D.C. to visit the memorials and monuments created in their honor.
Among those in the crowd was the family of 97-year-old Navy veteran Stephen “Marv” Nagelkerke of Grandville.
“He enlisted when he was 17 years old, with a bunch of people from West Michigan here, some guys that he knew. He talked about really being towards the end of the war, so he was not in the middle of all the battles that took place, but he certainly has a heart and compassion for those who served with him and those who died for our country, too,” said Marv’s son Dan Nagelkerke…