Albert (Al) Wondra and Donald (Don) Weiss, both 90-years-old, have been friends since they were little boys. They were both born and grew up together in Leroy less than a mile apart from each other. That may seem far, but considering they both lived on farms, they were actually neighbors.
Both Albert and Don volunteered for the U.S. Army straight out of high school, but it wasn’t until almost a year later in March of 1955 that they were called for service. They were first brought to Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. for their basic training. A little less than two weeks after their basic training was completed, they were then sent to Fort Chaffee in Arkansas. Not long after, they went to Fort Lewis, Wash., and after a few short days, they were shipped to Okinawa.
“We got shipped to the same place. I’d never heard of it before on the map. I didn’t know where it was. I don’t think you did either,” Wondra said, directing the last part to Weiss.
“We were supposed to go to Korea, and the night before we left, everybody in artillery training was told they were going to Okinawa,” added Weiss.
So the two of them got on a ship in Fort Lewis and began their journey to Okinawa. The two of them both recall the ride to Okinawa as being smooth sailing, a good omen for their time to come. Wondra even comments on how he nearly missed his birthday due to crossing the International Date Line, bringing them a day ahead of what they were used to.
When Wondra and Weiss arrived at Okinawa, docking on the southern half, they found out it was just a small island about 66 miles long and less than 10 miles wide.
“In the first six months on Okinawa, him and I stayed together,” Wondra recalled. “After six months, probably based on all the scores and tests you take and your abilities, we got separated.”
Wondra ended up starting as a generator operator then moving to the radar section. Weiss was put near the Kadena Air Base in the tank division as a driver. Not only were they in different divisions, but they were now miles apart from each other, but this didn’t stop them from seeing each other most weekends.
When it was time to return, they joined each other back on the same ship. “We did not have a nice ride home,” Weiss said, bringing up the contrast from the journey to the island. “First, after we left Okinawa we were in Japan for three days, four days. Then we hit a typhoon going back.” It took them 21 days to get back home to the United States, and during that time they were never allowed to go on the top deck for how rough the waters were.
Outside of the Army, Wondra and Weiss both had very different lives. Don Weiss married his late wife Therese, his high school sweetheart, not long after being discharged. The two of them raised five children together. Weiss originally took over his parent’s dairy farm, but then decided to get his insurance license. He was especially known in his field for always wearing jeans.
Albert Wondra, on the other hand, didn’t get married until he was in his 30s. He met and married his late wife, Patricia, and the two of them raised six children together. After the Army, he began working with Mayville Construction, working on projects on Hwy 41 and Hwy 49. Years later, Wondra took the skills he learned working with Mayville construction and opened his own business, Wondra Excavating (now Wondra Construction). Eventually, years into retirement, Wondra and his wife moved to Arizona for several years, but ended up moving back to be closer to family when Patricia was dealing with health issues. Even during this time away, both Wondra and Weiss remained close.
On Saturday, Sept. 12, Albert Wondra and Donald Weiss both did the Honor Flight from Milwaukee to Washington D.C. with about 70 other veterans and their sponsors. Don’s son, Stan Weiss, originally reached out to Honor Flight to sponsor his father to do the flight, and Don asked for Albert to join him as well, feeling that since they experienced the Army together, they should experience this flight together. Through the Honor Flight, they were able to fly to D.C. and visit the Korean War and Vietnam War memorials, as well as the other memorials and monuments.
“My opinion when they came with the Honor Flight was quite different. I thought, ‘They don’t have to do this for me,’” said Wondra. “The Army did more for me than I did for the Army. I could have never done with my life what I did without the Army… it opened us up to the whole world.”
The Honor Flight Network is a national nonprofit that flies veterans from all over the country–primarily from World War II, the Vietnam War and Korean War–and honors them by bringing them to the memorials in D.C. To find out more about Honor Flight, visit www.honorflight.org/.
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