If Roger Dorn was dropped in the middle of Washington, D.C., without a map and cab fare, it’s a good bet
he’d make it to the World War II Memorial just fine on his own.
"I don’t know of any other human being that has the directional ability that this man has,"
said his son-in-law, Robb Gates. "We have a picture of one of the planes he flew on (during WWII)
… and it says his nickname, Magellan."
Dorn, of Perrysburg, is one of 80 WWII veterans on the 2011 inaugural Honor Flight Northwest Ohio this
morning from Toledo to the nation’s capital.
Gates said that his father-in-law, whose nickname comes from the explorer Ferdinand Magellan, has an
uncanny sense of direction that sent him on 51 bombing missions during WWII. The average, Gates said,
was 25 missions and many men didn’t live to make all of those assignments.
His father-in-law still carries a silver dollar that his mother gave him before he went to war.
"It’s worn completely smooth on every surface," Gates said. "He said that was his lucky
dollar."
Gates is a Vietnam War veteran and a volunteer for Honor Flight. He will accompany his father-in-law, who
is 90 and in poor health, as a guardian on Wednesday.
"I’m a history nut and this is like going to a candy store for me. These guys are living
history," Gates said. "They really saved democracy and I don’t know how you thank them."

One of the goals of Honor Flight, Gates said, is to shower veterans with the praise many did not receive
when they arrived home after the war. Honor Flight men and women are treated to breakfast at the hangar
and a grand welcome-home with music and tributes.
"A lot of them came back to an empty train station at 2 in the morning and walked the last five
miles home. They didn’t get the acclaim they deserved," said Gates, of Perrysburg. "That’s
what we’re trying to duplicate here."
Many of the veterans are being escorted by their family members, who are "guardians" and pay
$400 to take the trip. They show the veteran around the memorials, push wheelchairs and take pictures
for them.
Herb Kratzer of Bowling Green will meet his son and daughter-in-law at the WWII Memorial.
"It’s going to be quite a day."
Kratzer, who is 90, served in the Army’s medical corps, spending 20 months overseas.
"We set up shop in England, just a little bit before D-Day," he said. "After the Normandy
invasion, this was about the third stop for further treatment."
Some men were sent back to France for more action but Kratzer said nine out of 10 went home.
"I saw a lot of soldiers that were pretty well banged up, but I never like to talk too much about
it."
Today is a double celebration for Don Moore of Luckey. The 91-year-old is leaving Otterbein Portage
Valley in Pemberville where he has been recovering from double pneumonia.
He’s going straight to the Toledo airport for the Honor Flight trip, then home in the evening. His son,
David Moore, Toledo, is his guardian.
Moore was a welder and truck driver during the war, and saw a lot of the world, including New Guinea,
Australia and the Panama Canal.
"Most of the planes that flew from the invasion of the Philippines came from our base," he
said. "I got shipped to the Philippines and when I got there they told me I was coming home."

That was three years and four months after he joined the Air Force.
The youngster of Wednesday’s group will probably be Lou Snyder of Perrysburg.
Snyder, who is 82, served in the Korean War. He suffered a stroke three years ago and it’s doubtful he
could make such a trip on his own, without Honor Flight.
"It’s a great thing and I was so happy when they called me up. I couldn’t come down from cloud nine
for quite a while," said Snyder, whose son, Mark, will accompany him on the trip as a guardian.
Max Priddy, 85, of Perrysburg, was an Army combat photographer in Europe at the tail-end of the war.
"The Army took over the old Paramount studios in Queens, N.Y., during the war as a base for creating
the training films and set up a school to train photographers," said Priddy, who spent six months
there.
After Priddy was notified that he was selected for today’s trip, he did some research and came across a
national Honor Flight calendar for April.
"It amazed me that there’s almost an Honor Flight everyday throughout the country."
William McLean, Perrysburg, was the former treasurer for the city. He served in the Navy during WWII and
the Korean War. He’s looking forward to visiting all of the memorials.
"It will be quite an adventure," he said.
His guardian, Larry Titkemeier of Pemberville, heard the Sentinel’s phone interview with McLean and said
he was being much too modest.
McLean, Titkemeier said, received three Purple Hearts and the Silver Star during the Korean War. The
Silver Star is the United States’ third highest award exclusively for combat valor. McLean saved the
lives of countless men in December 1950 in minus-25 degree temperatures, Titkemeier said.
"He’s not going to toot his own horn but it deserves to be tooted," he said. "He’s very
humble, but he’s a real hero."