Local veteran on UP Honor Flight reflects on love, loss and service
Gina Trainor, left, and Arthur Davey look over Arlington National Cemetery while standing in the Memorial Amphitheater. Veterans and guardians on the 29th Upper Peninsula Honor Flight visited the cemetery to observe the Changing of the Guard ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. (Sophie Vogelmann | Daily Press)
Gina Trainor, left, and her father, Arthur Davey, stop for a photo at the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial in Washington, D.C.. Both attended the 29th Upper Peninsula Honor Flight. (Sophie Vogelmann | Daily Press)
Gina Trainor, left, and Arthur Davey observe various exhibits at the Military Women's Memorial in Arlington, Virginia. (Sophie Vogelmann | Daily Press)
Gina Trainor, left, and Arthur Davey look over Arlington National Cemetery while standing in the Memorial Amphitheater. Veterans and guardians on the 29th Upper Peninsula Honor Flight visited the cemetery to observe the Changing of the Guard ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. (Sophie Vogelmann | Daily Press)
Gina Trainor, left, and her father, Arthur Davey, stop for a photo at the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial in Washington, D.C.. Both attended the 29th Upper Peninsula Honor Flight. (Sophie Vogelmann | Daily Press)
Gina Trainor, left, and Arthur Davey observe various exhibits at the Military Women's Memorial in Arlington, Virginia. (Sophie Vogelmann | Daily Press)
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WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Amongst the stories veterans carried on the 29th Upper Peninsula Honor Flight was one of young love and endurance.
Arthur “Art” Davey and his daughter, Gina Trainor, attended Mission XXIX of the UP Honor Flight on Wednesday. Davey is a veteran of the United States Air Force and served from 1960 to 1964.
Davey, of Wells, married his wife, Grace, on Jan. 30, 1964 -- three days before he was deployed from the now-decommissioned K. I. Sawyer Air Force Base in Marquette. Davey was 20 years old at the time.
The couple initially met at a bar when Davey approached Grace and introduced himself.
"There used to be a bar called 'Skinny's' in Escanaba, and I walked in there one night and saw (Grace) sitting with her girlfriend. I walked in and sat down, and the rest is history," Davey said.
A newborn baby was waiting for Davey at home upon his return from deployment.
"Nine months after we got married, (Trainor) came out. She was there when I came home from Korea in November," Davey said. "It's kind of neat coming home to a two-month-old baby."
Jan. 30, 2024, marked the couple's 60th wedding anniversary. In celebration, they renewed their vows at the Salvation Army in Escanaba. The couple share three other grown children besides Trainor: Laura, Terri and Jesse.
As for the UP Honor Flight, Davey said he heard about the flight but was hesitant to attend.
"I thought about it, and I was a peacetime sort of… like a nine-to-fiver so to speak. I thought about -- I had uncles in the war in Korea, WWII and these guys from Vietnam -- the carnage that they had seen… I didn't feel good enough," Davey said. "Well then, I talked to some people, and they said (it's an honor) not only for those who went (to war) and didn't come back, but it's also an honor to the guys that could have went and didn't. I just said I'm going to do it, so here I am."
Davey recalled a time when veterans returning from the Vietnam War were not nearly as appreciated or honored as they are today.
"It has turned 180 degrees," Davey said. "I remember when the Vietnam vets were coming home and how they were treated and disrespected. I think Desert Storm brought that attitude a 180-degree turn. America finally appreciates the veterans."
When deciding who would accompany Davey on the trip to Washington, D.C., he said the location of where each of his children reside was the primary factor. Trainor resides in West Bend, Wisconsin, and is the closest to her parents out of her three siblings.
Davey said, "I just called her right away and said, 'Hey Gina, what do you think about the UP Honor Flight?' And she said, 'Oh, yeah!' She never hesitated."
Halfway through the day, the pair said their experience had been amazing but, naturally, overwhelming.
"I can't fathom what it takes to organize this," Davey said. "I think about that and it just blows my mind."
Veterans and their guardians boarded the plane at the Delta County Airport in Escanaba at around 6:30 a.m. and stopped at a total of eight memorials and sites before boarding the plane at Dulles International Airport at around 7:30 p.m.
"I just wish we could stay here for weeks. Just to see things you've seen on TV or in books, it's incredible," Trainor said. "We have a great tour guide. She's telling us all of the significance… she's just amazing."
Davey said he particularly enjoyed the group's first stop of the day, the World War II Memorial, as he has family members who served in the war.
"There was nostalgia… reading the quotes, especially from my favorite president, Harry Truman. I remember some of the stories my dad and my uncle would tell. My dad was on Okinawa in WWII. He was being shot at by the Japanese Airforce, but he survived it."
Like many of the veterans on the trip, Davey has also lost family members to conflict overseas. His grandson, who served as a U.S. Marine, died in Iraq in 2004.
Davey's children followed in his footsteps and chose to serve their country -- his oldest daughter served in the Army, his oldest son served in the Navy and youngest son was a Marine.
"We're pretty much a military family," Davey said.
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Sophie Vogelmann can be reached at 906-786-2021 or svogelmann@dailypress.net.