Louie Sperfslage (right), a veteran Marine, was part of the May 28 Honor Flight to D.C. He’s pictured in front of the Marine Corps War Memorial with his son, Bill Sperfslage. (Photos submitted)
Several Jones County veterans were part of the Eastern Iowa Honor Flight on May 28. From left are Steve McAleer, Dan McAleer, LJ Takes, Joe Cruise, Louie Sperfslage, and Dale Glawatz.
Many members of the Sperfslage family welcomed Louie home at the Cedar Rapids airport.
“I can’t explain it. It was fantastic. It means a lot. I think that sums it up.”
Louie Sperfslage was one of many Jones County veterans, and Eastern Iowa veterans, who took part in the May 28 Eastern Iowa Honor Flight to Washington, D.C.
It was his daughter who signed him up for the flight a few months ago.
“I got a call asking if I would want to go,” he recalled. “And I said, ‘I guess.’ I had been in the Marines for three years; I figured I had earned it and was just as eligible.”
Accompanying Louie on the flight was his son, Bill Sperfslage.
“I just figured he’d go because he’s the oldest,” remarked Louie of which one of his kids would get to experience the Honor Flight by his side.
“The siblings had a meeting,” joked Bill. “It was a privilege to do that with my dad.”
This was not the Sperfslages first trip to D.C.
“I was stationed at Quantico,” said Louie of the Marine Corps Base near D.C. (Quantico is the headquarters for the Marines and the FBI.)
Louie also went on a bus trip to the nation’s capital about 10 years ago.
“A lot has changed,” he recalled.
Bill was also in D.C. 10 to 12 years ago for a work-related trip.
Louie said he was looking forward to the trip as a whole.
Some of the highlights for Louie from this trip was seeing the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial. The memorial is inspired by the iconic photograph of six Marines raising the American Flag during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II.
Louie was quite familiar with the Marine Corps Memorial. Having visited Harlingen, Texas, he has seen the exact same memorial located at the Marine Military Academy.
“It’s very nice,” he remarked of both Marine memorials.
Other highlights included the 9/11 Memorial at the Pentagon, which is made up of 184 illuminated benches in memory of the 184 victims who died in the Pentagon on 9/11.
“It was pretty sobering,” commented Bill.
They also took in Arlington National Cemetery, watching the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
“I had no idea just how patriotic our country was,” Louie said. “Everywhere we went, people came up and shook our hands and gave us hugs, thanking us for our service, even young kids.”
“It was pretty noticeable everywhere we went, people would shake their hands,” added Bill.
When their flight landed in D.C. via Cedar Rapids, he said there was a long line of people clapping for them as they got off the plane.
“A whole bunch of people were there to welcome us,” said Louie.
A comical incident took place at the D.C. airport after they landed. The Sperfslages were walking through the terminal and someone asked Louie if he needed a wheelchair.
“I’m a Marine!” he said, plain and simple, meaning he would be fine walking without assistance.
“Semper Fi,” offered the airport attendant, short for “Semper Fidelis,” meaning “always faithful.” Semper Fi of the motto of the U.S. Marines.
When the flight finally made it home to Cedar Rapids, after an hour delay, the place was full of strangers waving American Flags, welcoming the veterans home. Louie’s kids and grandkids were on hand for the occasion.
“It was just so great,” Louie said. “There was a line of policemen and highway patrolmen shaking our hands.”
Louie enlisted in the Marines at the age of 20, serving from 1955-58.
“I was one of the older ones,” he said of his age.
It was actually the movie “Battle Cry,” which came out in 1955, that inspired Louie to join the Marines. It’s about a Marine battalion preparing for WWII. (A book by the same name was published in 1953.)
“That movies made me turn the corner,” he said of enlisting.
Louie was a carpenter at the time, having grown up in Prairieburg. (He was born in Earlville, Iowa.)
He said he thought about joining the Navy, but the Marine Corps just called to him.
“I had several cousins in the service, too,” he said.
Louie headed to San Diego, Calif., for basic training.
“They called us the Hollywood Marines,” he joked.
By the time Louie ended his years of service, he had earned the rank of sergeant.
During his time in the service, he served on board the USS Franklin D. Roosevelt guarding nuclear weapons.
“We were in the Mediterranean (Sea) a lot,” Louie said. “We started in (the State of) Washington and went around the horn (Carpe Horn in Chile) to Florida. I thought I’d never want to see water again.”
A fan of ancient history and ancient Greece, Louie said it was fascinating to take in the historic sites of the Metropolis in Greece.
Louie said he’ll never forget the Honor Flight trip.
“There was a lot of comradery,” he said of all of the veterans. “There’s a lot of pride.”