Honor Flight inspires Kildeer man to make movie
Newly retired and looking for a good cause, Dale Chellis of Kildeer read a newspaper column in March 2008 about Honor Flight Chicago. The fledgling charity was organizing an effort to fly aging World War II veterans to Washington to see the monuments that honor the accomplishments and sacrifices of veterans.
“I was on the inaugural flight,” says Chellis, 71, a volunteer on a dozen of those early Honor Flight Chicago trips. Those flights also began a personal journey for Chellis.
“Once you start meeting these World War II vets, you get hooked,” Chellis says. “They are so humble, and they never have been given their proper thanks.”
His goal to see every World War II veteran visit the monuments in our nation's capital and soak up that appreciation is a mission that can't be accomplished.
“What we are finding is that the veterans are getting too old to make the trip,” Chellis says.
If the veterans can't come to the monuments, then, Chellis figured, there must be a way to bring the monuments to the veterans.
He worked with director/producer Allen Wilson of Florida, where Chellis and his wife, Toni Sergott, spend part of the year, to create a documentary and will soon have 15,000 copies ready to be shipped. Taking its title from President Harry Truman's words inscribed on the National World War II Monument, the professionally produced “America Will Never Forget Their Sacrifices” takes viewers on an emotional ride.
Having watched the documentary a dozen times, Chellis admits that he always has to wipe his eyes after watching an old man in a red shirt kneeling by a part of the monument that honors the Battle of Peleliu.
“That always tears me up,” Chellis says. “Peleliu was one of the most fierce battles in World War II. I can't imagine what is going through this Marine's head as he prays at the memorial.”
Chairman of Honor Flight Central Florida, Wilson was in the Navy from 1969 to 1979, served in Vietnam and admits to being overcome by emotions at times during the making of the film. Logging more than 600 hours editing the footage, adding music, adjusting the colors and performing all the tedious tasks of filmmaking — he cried every time, Wilson says.
The 63-year-old Iowa native, director of intellectual capital management at Siemens Energy, developed an interest in film during his time in the service and uses his Gray Ghost Studios to make films for many charitable organizations. Fellow veterans John Efird and Lou Seiler Jr. donated their time as well.
As a teenager in Plymouth, New Hampshire, Chellis enlisted in the Navy in 1961. He spent the next 12 years serving in communication posts in England, Germany and Turkey and at a military hospital in Denver. His work on cryptography and spy satellites led to his civilian career as an information technology manager. He's listed as a gaffer and key grip on the documentary.
“I parked the truck and carried the stuff,” Chellis says.
Made with the blessings of the Department of Defense and featuring appearances by several military heavyweights, the film includes high-definition footage shot by high-tech drones as well as old black-and-white photographs. Several of the veterans in the documentary have died since filming began. Chellis says it is important to keep their stories alive.
He remembers sitting with one veteran who casually told about being one of the troops storming the beaches of Normandy during the D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944. “I was wounded on Omaha Beach and bled for 14 hours,” the vet told him.
Another old man talked about the time he spent as a young man hiking through Europe. “He was a gunner on a B-24 when it got shot down,” Chellis remembers. “He spent three months behind enemy lines, and the Resistance took care of him. It's just amazing what these people went through.”
The stories inspired Chellis to see some of that history for himself.
“One of the most dramatic experiences I had was spending a D-Day anniversary in Normandy, walking through that cemetery on Omaha Beach. Whew,” he says.
Getting a chance to visit the national monuments that honor their service and sacrifice makes an impact on those veterans.
“You see some grown men with tears falling down their cheeks,” Chellis says.
The film should do the same. Chellis asks any veterans group, nursing home or other organization that could show the documentary to World War II veterans to send an email requesting a DVD to AWNFTS@gmail.com. Or you can watch the movie online at http://vimeopro.com/grayghoststudios/america-will-never-forget-their-sacrifices.