Making a veteran’s wish a reality | va tomah health care | veterans affairs

When a humble military Veteran expresses a wish, where he typically does not ask anyone for anything, this evokes people to move mountains to make the request a reality. This was just the

case when WWII and Korean War Veteran Ben Shove expressed to his Recreational Therapist, Ms. Heather Sangl, that he would love to see a military fly over.  After Ms. Sangl learned of Veteran

Shove’s desire to see a military fly over, she immediately contacted several Tomah VAMC departments, all of which combined to work together, including the Chief of Center for Development

and Civic Engagement, Ms. Jennifer Conzemius, who reached out to CSM Travis D. Skowronski with Volk Field. The combined group cared enough about the Veteran to ensure his wish would come

true.  The next day, August 13, 2024, Volk Field staff rolled out the red carpet for Veteran Shove, who was accompanied by Ms. Sangl and his Nurse, Ms. Toni Johnson, to experience Volk

Field’s air exercise Northern Lighting, a tactical, joint training exercise conducted annually. Veteran Shove was able have a front row seat to experience military jets fly over close enough

to follow them through the sky with his finger. Volk Field service members and half-dozen airmen made Veteran Shove’s experience even more memorable by bringing him out on the tarmac,

shaking hands, thanking him for his service and presenting him three patches and a service coin. Veteran Shove was very grateful to be able to be part of Northern Lighting saying, “It was

very cool to be a part of that. It was a good day.” He spent the remainder of his time at Volk Field sharing stories of his military experiences with current service members.  Ms. Sangl

recalls Veteran Shove’s excitement while they were returning to the VA, “He smiled the entire ride back to the VA and displayed tears of joy in thanking us for making this happen for him”.  

Sangl goes on to say, “Words cannot describe how excited and grateful I am for being able to make this happen for him. It was a true joy getting to see the younger generation of service

members listen so intently to his stories and then treat him like the hero he is”. Veteran Shove’s wish turned into a reality within a 24-hour period all due to the Tomah VAMC and Volk Field

staff’s dedication to Veterans and the desire to make one WWII and Korean War Veteran’s wish come true.