Stressing over and over how well he was treated, Al Wittig of Wayne definitely enjoyed his recent trip to Washington, D.C.
Wittig, a Korean War veteran, and his son-in-law, Gary Bolte, took part in a three-day Honor Flight to the nation's capital.
Wittig, who was born in Ruskin, Neb. and grew up in Sidney, was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1950.
From 1950 to 1952 he served in the Second Armored Division during the Korean Conflict.
"I was never sent to Korea because they told us they couldn't use an armored division in Korea. Instead, I spent two years in Germany as part of the 17th Armored Engineers. I was a demolition expert and was able to blow up and/or build bridges," Al said.
After this service he returned to Sidney, where his future wife, Betty, was waiting for him. They had known each other before he was drafted and they wrote letters while he was overseas. The couple was married in 1953.
Al and Betty are the parents of three children, A son, Timothy, is deceased. Daughter Pam and husband, Bob Dickinson, live in Paragold, Ark. and daughter Brenda and husband, Gary Bolte, live in Logan, Iowa.
Al and Betty found their way to Wayne by way of Al's brother.
"My brother found a grocery store for sale in Wayne and asked if I wanted to buy it with him and move here. We decided to do it and moved to Wayne in 1962. The grocery store was located on Third Street, where the Magic Wok is today. In 1978 we built a new store on Main Street, where Ameritas is today. It was the first store in Nebraska to have scanners to price the groceries," Al said.
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