thedrifter
06-14-09, 09:04 AM
Respecting Old Glory
By Joe VanHoose
Staff writer
Published: Sunday, June 14, 2009 at 6:30 a.m.
Warren Bakstran needs someone to push his wheelchair as he moves about the Timber Ridge Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in southwest Ocala. Bakstran, 86, can no longer walk, as Parkinson's disease has crippled his body.
But every day - sometimes in the morning, sometimes in the afternoon - Bakstran gets his nursing assistant to wheel him outside to the flagpole in front of the building. His shaking arm rises and his hand raises above his squinting eyes.
"Good morning, captain," he said to the American flag one recent day as he looked up at it, a subtle breeze extending it out just enough to expose all 50 stars. "It's a quiet day today. Warm, not much of a breeze, but we see you."
Bakstran has made a point of saluting the flag ever since his days in the 4th Marine Division during World War II. Six months after marrying his wife, Sarah, he set out on the Marshall Islands Operations in 1944. A few months later, he was radioing U.S. gun crews the coordinates of enemy firepower on the beaches of Iwo Jima. Bakstran remembers when his fellow Marines hoisted the flag on the island, a symbol of victory that became a national monument in Washington. He saluted then, just as he does now.
"He used to have a room here in the corner where you could see the flag," said his daughter, Donna Martin. "He would sit on his bed and salute his flag from there."
Now Bakstran gets help from a fellow veteran: his nursing assistant, Tim Thompson.
Thompson served in the Navy during Operation Desert Storm.
"The veterans here all hold a special place in my heart," Thompson said. "It's a case of veterans helping veterans. That's what we do."
The Ocala Marine Corps League learned of Bakstran and plan to present him with his own flag and certificate of loyalty today. Vice Commandant Dick Hauck said he hopes to help Bakstran stand if he can.
"We want to shake his hand and tell him thank you for all that he's done," Hauck said. "Really, it's the least we could do for a great veteran like him."
On the day a reporter visited, everyone gave Bakstran some space as he talked out his feelings. He kept his hand up.
"If you need me, you know where I am," he said as he looked at the flag. "If you call, I will answer."
Ellie
http://www.ocala.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=OS&Date=20090614&Category=ARTICLES&ArtNo=906141011&Ref=V1&Profile=1001&MaxW=250&border=0
By Joe VanHoose
Staff writer
Published: Sunday, June 14, 2009 at 6:30 a.m.
Warren Bakstran needs someone to push his wheelchair as he moves about the Timber Ridge Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in southwest Ocala. Bakstran, 86, can no longer walk, as Parkinson's disease has crippled his body.
But every day - sometimes in the morning, sometimes in the afternoon - Bakstran gets his nursing assistant to wheel him outside to the flagpole in front of the building. His shaking arm rises and his hand raises above his squinting eyes.
"Good morning, captain," he said to the American flag one recent day as he looked up at it, a subtle breeze extending it out just enough to expose all 50 stars. "It's a quiet day today. Warm, not much of a breeze, but we see you."
Bakstran has made a point of saluting the flag ever since his days in the 4th Marine Division during World War II. Six months after marrying his wife, Sarah, he set out on the Marshall Islands Operations in 1944. A few months later, he was radioing U.S. gun crews the coordinates of enemy firepower on the beaches of Iwo Jima. Bakstran remembers when his fellow Marines hoisted the flag on the island, a symbol of victory that became a national monument in Washington. He saluted then, just as he does now.
"He used to have a room here in the corner where you could see the flag," said his daughter, Donna Martin. "He would sit on his bed and salute his flag from there."
Now Bakstran gets help from a fellow veteran: his nursing assistant, Tim Thompson.
Thompson served in the Navy during Operation Desert Storm.
"The veterans here all hold a special place in my heart," Thompson said. "It's a case of veterans helping veterans. That's what we do."
The Ocala Marine Corps League learned of Bakstran and plan to present him with his own flag and certificate of loyalty today. Vice Commandant Dick Hauck said he hopes to help Bakstran stand if he can.
"We want to shake his hand and tell him thank you for all that he's done," Hauck said. "Really, it's the least we could do for a great veteran like him."
On the day a reporter visited, everyone gave Bakstran some space as he talked out his feelings. He kept his hand up.
"If you need me, you know where I am," he said as he looked at the flag. "If you call, I will answer."
Ellie
http://www.ocala.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=OS&Date=20090614&Category=ARTICLES&ArtNo=906141011&Ref=V1&Profile=1001&MaxW=250&border=0