The Fort Dodge man, who once had to bail out of a burning bomber, is now preparing for a special flight that will honor him and more than 100 other Iowa veterans for their service.

Ryker joined those veterans, their families and the Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight Committee Wednesday evening for a dinner at the Webster County Fairgrounds that brought them all together in advance of the May 7 trip to Washington, D.C.

“I want to go on such a wonderful flight,” Ryker said. “It just felt like it was the perfect thing to do.”

He said he has never seen the war memorials in the nation’s capital. He added that one of his Air Force flight instructors is buried at Arlington National Cemetery, which will be one of the places the veterans will visit on May 7.

-Messenger photo by Bill Shea
Air Force veteran Gary Ryker, of Fort Dodge, attended the Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight dinner Wednesday at the Webster County Fairgrounds. The former F-111 Aardvark pilot will be going on the May 7 flight to Washington, D.C.

He served in the Air Force from 1969 to 1979. He flew a bomber called an F-111 Aardvark. He served in Thailand, then at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, and Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho.

His plane caught fire on a flight out of Mountain Home Air Force Base. When he noticed smoke in the cockpit, he radioed the pilot of a nearby plane to ask if he could see anything wrong. That pilot told him his entire plane, except for the cockpit, was on fire.

Ryker ejected, blasting the entire two-seat cockpit out of the plane. It parachuted to the ground, then rolled down a mountain until it hit a rock.

He said he is now two inches shorter than he was before that incident because of a back injury he suffered.

Army veteran Don Schubert, of Estherville, never had to eject from a burning plane, but he experienced plenty of risk during 16 months in South Korea at the height of the Korean War. He was a member of a combat engineer unit. He drove trucks, including the rigs soldiers called a deuce and a half because they could carry 2 ¢ tons.

-Messenger photo by Bill Shea
Army National Guard veteran Gary Prince, left, and Army veteran Don Schubert, both of Estherville, talk Wednesday evening during the Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight dinner held at the Webster County Fairgrounds.

Schubert, who is one of two Korean War veterans on the flight, served from 1952 to 1954.

He said some friends who traveled on previous Honor Flights urged him to go.

“They said ‘Don, you’ve got to take one of them flights,'” he recalled.

He said he has never been to Washington, D.C.

What is he looking forward to seeing there?

“Whatever there is to see,” he said.

Dr. Chuck Egeland, of Ames, who served as a dentist in the Army, was encouraged to go on the trip by a former classmate.

“He had so much fun, he encouraged me to go and I’m really looking forward to it,” he said.

“I’m sure it’s all going to be just delightful,” he added.

Egeland said he is particularly looking forward to seeing Arlington National Cemetery and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

He recalled that a military recruiter came to his dental school, looking for volunteers. He said he volunteered for the Air Force, Navy and Coast Guard, but ended up in the Army. He was at Fort Irwin, California, from 1967 to 1969. His assignment was to take care of the dependents of soldiers.

After getting out of the Army, he practiced dentistry for 43 years, first in Sac City and later in Ames.

Marine Corps veteran Steve Andre, of Des Moines, found his way onto the Honor Flight following a chance encounter in a store parking lot. That day, he was wearing a cap identifying himself as a veteran, when someone asked him if he wanted to go on an Honor Flight. That someone turned out to be Ron Newsum, the founder of the Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight.

“I was in the right place at the right time,” he said. “I feel very honored.”

Andre said he knew some World War II veterans who had been on Honor Flights and added “They couldn’t say enough good things about it.”

“I am excited about seeing the memorials,” he said. “I’m getting goosebumps just thinking about it.”

Honor Flight set for May 7

The Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight is preparing for takeoff for the 27th time since 2010.

The flight will depart from Fort Dodge Regional Airport at 6:20 a.m. May 7 and return that same day.

Aboard the plane will be more than 100 veterans from 26 Iowa counties, plus flight organizers and a small medical staff.

All of the veterans are traveling for free.

The plane will travel to Dulles International Airport in the Virginia suburbs of Washington. There, the group will board buses and head into the capital.

The group will visit the Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam War Veterans Memorial, Korean War Veterans Memorial, World War II Memorial, the Marine Corps Memorial, and Arlington National Cemetery.

This will be the final flight organized by the original Honor Flight Committee, led by Ron Newsum. A new Honor Flight Committee is being organized.

It will also be the final Honor Flight conducted with the support of Rhonda Chambers, the director of aviation at Fort Dodge Regional Airport. She will retire in July.