Fargo VA Medical Center
Helicopter ride lifts vet’s spirits
John Lamb
The Forum - 09/25/2008
Robert Hoel was flying high before he even left the ground Wednesday morning.
He hopes his dying wish gives other veterans one last chance to reach their goals.
A few days ago, the 62-year-old Marine veteran was admitted to the palliative care unit of the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Fargo. Suffering from diabetes for the past four years and in and out of the VA for the past three, Hoel was recently diagnosed with terminal cancer.
When the nursing staff asked him if there was anything he wanted to do with his time left, he said he wanted one last helicopter ride, which he enjoyed in the service.
Calls were made and in short order a flight was lined up, along with a 10-biker escort to the Fargo airfield courtesy of the U.S. Military Veterans’ Motorcycle Club.
“I would’ve never thought we’d be here,” said Jodi Holman, palliative care coordinator at the VA. “Everyone we called said yes, yes, yes.”
“We do anything and everything to take care of our veterans,” said Jim Brent, Cass County’s veterans service officer. When a VA staffer called him explaining their mission, Brent lined up a helicopter and pilot, Tom Nagle, a Fargo MeritCare surgeon.
Since being told of the arranged flight, Hoel’s spirits soared, though his answers were understatements, according to his wife, Sandy.
“A little excited,” he said when asked how he felt. “It’s the chance I’ve kind of been waiting for. … This could be fun.”
And what was he looking forward to seeing?
“Everything,” he answered from under his black POW/MIA cap. “I’ve been seeing everything from ground level from mostly the inside of buildings.”
“He was making his bed this morning. He never made his bed,” said Valerie Kranzler, Hoel’s favorite nurse. “Two days ago, he wasn’t moving and he was on morphine. This has done more for him than any medicine prescribed.”
While the event gave the patient a boost, it was also moving for his family and caregivers.
“It’s the talk of the floor. We were all crying more than Bob was, on our way here,” Kranzler said, holding tissues.
Even those who just met Hoel were moved. As the helicopter hovered feet above the tarmac, those watching – from family to the VA staffers to the veteran bikers, dressed in black leather and denim, to members of the North Dakota Air National Guard, dressed in fatigues – smiled and waved or saluted.
“It’s bittersweet,” Sandy Hoel said. Wrapped in blankets and waiting in her husband’s wheelchair on the tarmac, she watched the helicopter fly away. “It’s good to see him up there, but it kind of puts an end to it.”
When Hoel landed, he was surrounded by reporters and photographers with questions. His wife said that was only fitting because so many Vietnam vets never received an enthusiastic welcome home.
The Hoels and VA staffers hoped this experience would be the first in a program for terminal vets, giving them one last chance to do something special, like the Make a Wish foundation.
“I hope this is going to be the pilot program for a whole lot more to come,” Robert Hoel said.
Sandy Hoel said her husband would be returning to their Fargo home this weekend.
Readers can reach Forum columnist John Lamb at (701) 241-5533 or jlamb@forumcomm.com
For more information about the Fargo VA Medical Center, log on to
