Polson veterans honored for service

A pair of Polson veterans received a long-awaited “thank you” for their service as they participated in honor flight to Washington D.C. last week. 

“It was the most humbling experience I’ve ever had,” said Doug Morigeau, who along with his childhood friend Ron Newton served in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War.

Departing from Spokane, Wash., on Oct. 3, the flight took Morigeau and Newton to the nation’s capital where they toured monuments such as the Arlington National Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial.

For the men who graduated together from Polson High School in 1950, it was a reminder of an important yet often overlooked period of U.S. history.

“It has become a forgotten war,” Morigeau said of the conflict that resulted in an estimated 36,000 American casualties between 1950 and 1953.   

Faced with the possibility of getting drafted into the Army, Morigeau and Newton opted to enlist in the Navy instead. Entering the service was an easy decision for them at the time. 

“I don’t remember it being scary,” Morigeau said. “We were just following in the footsteps of World War II veterans.” 

Morigeau was assigned to a fuel supply ship operating off the coast of Korea, while Newton became an electrical technician about the USS Valley Forge aircraft carrier. Both men experienced tragedy and peril at sea. Morigeau said the front half of his ship caught fire at one point, while Newton remembers seeing artillery shells launched from the mainland splash into the water surrounding his carrier.

But unlike veterans from earlier conflicts, Morigeau and Newton’s return home was marked by a strong anti-war sentiment among the public. 

“When I first got out I didn’t tell anyone,” Newton said. “It wasn’t too popular to serve in the military back then.”

More than half a century later, however, the men received as much recognition as they could handle, with hundreds of people crowding the airport as they returned from their honor flight.  

“I’ve never had to shake so many hands in my life,” Newton said. 

Morigeau said the experience is something every former soldier should participate in, especially now that many of his fellow Korea servicemen are passing way.  

“I would recommend every veteran go on one while they can,” he said. “There aren’t too many of us left now.”