A trip of a lifetime for Chief Talkington

October 4th, 2008, my grandfather turned 98. His Name is Verbia Talkington, but he prefers to be called "Chief Talkington." You see, he was a proud military man serving in the Navy for 20 years.

Shortly after his 98th birthday, he was diagnosed with lung cancer, not the type of birthday gift you wish to receive, but my grandfather said, he has been through a lot in his life and if this is what is supposed to happen "so be it."

Chief Talkington joined the Navy on "a whim." Times were tough and there were no jobs to be had. A friend of his told him where there was guaranteed food and shelter, so off to St. Louis they went.

My Grandfather tells me that he only went to help out his "buddy," but his buddy did not get in and he did. He was excited and scared of the new life that lay ahead for him. He was comforted by the feeling of knowing there was food and a warm bed to lie in each night and he would not have to worry about this for a long time. Physically he was set, but emotionally, he did not know what he was in for.

Through his career, he describes how friendships occur with your shipmates, how you learn respect, honor, dignity and survival. "All for one, and one for all," no matter where, or who you are. He tears up when he tries to talk about losing his friends/comrades, in the war, and is quick to change the subject.

He tells me he has witnessed more death and disaster than any of us could imagine, but as he says "you pick yourself up and keep going because you have a job to do. There is no time to reflect on the visions you encountered during those times, so you bury them right along with your shipmates."

Coming home from the war was the most degrading feeling. My grandfather describes to me "In the civilian world, you were supposed to pick up where you left off and keep the war to yourselves, nobody wanted to hear what happened to you, and nobody was there to help with the emotional visions suffered, you just went about your business."

I asked him numerous times to tell me about what he encountered, but he just clenches his jaw and tells me it was too much pain to relive and he did not want me to feel that pain.

Throughout the years, my grandfather always talks about his proud Navy career to everyone he meets. One particular encounter was with a nurse at the local emergency room when he was brought in for chest pain. This RN pulled me aside and told me about this organization called "Honor flight of Chicago" that flies veterans of the WW II to DC for the day to see their WW II memorial. Naturally my first thought was "what's the catch?" She came back with an application she had printed off the website and said, "Just read about this and think about it. He deserves this."

Knowing my grandfather's painful memories of the war, I put aside the application thinking there is no way he would consider this because I can't even get him to talk about the pain that I still see in his eyes, until I went on their website and listened to the other veterans stories and researched about how this started and knew I needed to apply for him. I decided not to tell him at first that I had applied because of reading that there is a waiting list of 500 veterans to go; and felt our chances were not good with his current health.

The application went in and a phone call was received by the friendliest voice. Bette was calling to offer him a spot on the next flight leaving October 22nd. He was able to be invited because of his terminal diagnosis.

I could not wait to tell my grandfather of this amazing opportunity, but was scared of how he would respond. I notified him a few days before the trip and his entire face lit up. He said he could not believe there was something like this for him. For three days he would rummage through his closet looking for the right outfit to wear. He pulled out old photo albums, reminisced about his days in the Navy and told everyone he came in contact with about the upcoming trip.

The night before, he was up at 2 am, calling me to make sure I would not oversleep, he was dressed and sitting in his chair when I arrived at 3:30 am to take him to the airport. His face was that of a young man.

His day was filled with honor. He describes this as "coming full circle." He now cries about his fallen comrades, laughs at the good times and talks about the bad. He says going on this trip gave him the honor and respect that he now realizes he had been searching for all of these years.

He wishes all of his comrades get the chance to see this beautiful memorial. He describes this as "a trip of a lifetime."

He tells me he is now ready to leave this world, knowing he DID make a difference in this life, and tells me all the time to PLEASE thank all the wonderful people that arranged this Honor Flight trip. A huge weight was on his heart when he first returned home from the war, now Honor Flight Chicago has allowed him to leave it at the WWII Memorial." All WWII vets deserve the opportunity to have an Honor Flight.

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