(PRESS RELEASE) – Wauseon is preparing to pay tribute to our local veterans on Monday, May 27th. “This year,” the event’s organizer Jerry Miller explained, “we are privileged to welcome Captain Berry Behnfeldt (ret.) as our esteemed guest speaker at the annual Memorial Day service.”
“His distinguished career as a Navy pilot, including graduating from the renowned U.S. Navy Fighter Weapons School (Top Gun) and the U.S. Navy Test Pilot School, brings immense value to our community’s tribute to our veterans.”
Behnfeldt is a 1979 graduate of Napoleon High School, Ohio, and a 1983 graduate of Bowling Green State University. He began his flying at Henry County Airport, Ohio, in 1978. Upon entering college in September 1979, he had already completed his private, instrument, and commercial ratings and was a certified flight and ground instructor.
After graduation from BGSU Aviation, he joined the U.S. Navy and, following training, was assigned to fly the FA-18 Hornet.
During his 17 years of flying duty, he accumulated over 3,000 hours in the FA-18, over 750 carrier arrested landings on nine different aircraft carriers and flew contingency operations over Bosnia and Iraq.
The speaker had three command tours in charge of Strike Fighter Squadron 204, Navy Reserve COMFAIRMED 1082, and the Navy Reserve Customer Service Unit.
He retired from the US Navy as a Captain in 2014 after over 30 years of service. Upon leaving active duty from the Navy, Behnfeldt was hired by Delta Air Lines and has served as a flight engineer on the 727, first officer on the 737, 757, and A350, and captain on the 757 and A320, and is currently serving as a captain on the A350 for Delta Air Lines based in Detroit. The pilot has accumulated over 16,000 flight hours in 52 different aircraft.
The parade, leading to the ceremony to the Wauseon Union Cemetery, starts on the corner of Clinton and West Elm Street at 9:30 a.m.
It will be led by a military honor guard, members of local scouting groups, Homecoming Queen Ava Rice, Mayor Kathy Huner, the guest speaker, and the fire department. The ceremony begins at 10 a.m. (In case of rain, it will take place in the Wauseon High School’s auditorium.)
WHS senior Skyler William will recite “Flander’s Field,” and WHS senior Reese Ambing will present a reading of Abraham Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address.”
Miller concluded that the Memorial Day ceremony is “a testament to the strong community spirit of Wauseon and its surrounding areas.”
“It is organized with great dedication by the members of American Legion Post 265 and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7424, who are deeply committed to honoring our local veterans.”
