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Hayden — Carl Medvesk's number came up about 68 years ago, calling him to service in the Pacific theater in World War II.

The Hayden resident served as a Navy machine gunner from 1941 to 1944. This month, Medvesk will join 111 other WWII veterans on an expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C. The men were chosen to participate in the inaugural Western Slope Honor Flight, and during the visit they'll see the World War II Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery.

Leonard Yoast of Hayden, Roy Struble of Steamboat Springs, and others from the Western Slope are scheduled to make the journey.

"I thank the veterans who sponsored this, that they haven't forgot us," Medvesk said.

He went to boot camp at the Naval Training Station in Farragut, Idaho, before moving on to San Francisco. From there, Medvesk traveled back and forth across the Pacific Ocean, ferrying supplies and troops to the South Pacific.

"It took us 30 days and 30 nights to get across," Medvesk said. "You didn't see no land for 30 days straight."

He said he was one of the lucky ones who didn't see combat.

"A (Japanese) submarine followed us for I don't know how many days, but we kept zigzagging," Medvesk said. "I was in storms that was so violent, like a tornado."

He and crewmates stood watch in shifts, keeping a lookout for four hours on and four hours off.

Medvesk was a seaman first class throughout his service. He chose to go into the Navy rather than another branch - and said he was glad he did.

"On board ship, you always had a clean bed and sheets on it, and good food," Medvesk said.

But he recalled a few hiccups at boot camp. Medvesk ran into trouble for cutting in line at meals.

"I had to clean a toilet with a toothbrush a few times," he said.

First flight

Medvesk was among 16.1 million people who served in the U.S. armed forces in WWII. Those who served are dying at a rate of 800 per day, said Kevin Wodlinger, who founded the Western Slope Honor Flight.

"It's sort of the last chapter in their lives," he said about the veterans. "They range in age from 80 to 95, so 10 years from now there's not going to be too many of these veterans left. It's an exclamation point at the end of their lives."

The flight program is part of the national Honor Flight Network, which started in 2005.

Wodlinger, who manages a group of radio stations in Grand Junction, started the Western Slope group in November. Honor Flight organizers raise money to fund the veterans' trips.

"Our total cost is going to run about $125,000 to send," Wodlinger said. "We've raised about $145,000 in the last eight months."

They'll take a US Air charter 757 from Grand Junction to Baltimore on Aug. 25 and return on Aug. 26. The airplane flight will be Medvesk's first. He grew up partly in Oak Creek and has lived in Hayden for 50 years. He was married to his wife, Helen, for 49 and a half years. She died in 1998, Medvesk said.

Yoast told him about the Honor Flight program. Yoast served in the Army Air Corps. He said he hasn't visited Washington and was looking forward to it.

"I've never been there before," Yoast said. "I always went the other way when I was in the Army. I was over in New Guinea and the Philippines, that country, them islands."

The men are among 20,000 who will visit the WWII Memorial through Honor Flights this year, Wodlinger said. Last year, 10,000 to 11,00 went.

Medvesk said he was happy to be honored.

"I was fighting for my country," he said, "and I love this country."