FARGO-Jane Matejcek's eyes sparkle when she talks about veterans.
"They are my passion! I cannot wait to get to work everyday!" she says.
Work is the VA hospital in Fargo where she is a registered nurse working in the Home Tele-Health Department. Her job is to follow up with former patients who are now using home monitoring equipment.
"I get paid to visit with lovely old people all day. They're just moved that someone cares enough to check in on them," she says.
But Matejcek has taken her love and compassion for veterans out of the 9 to 5 grind. She is the president of the board of directors of the new WDAY Honor Flight project, which aims to take veterans on a free flight to Washington, D.C., to see their war memorials.
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The project was first formed in 2007 when WDAY-AM (which, like The Forum, is owned by Forum Communications) led a community effort to raise about $700,000 to send 700 World War II veterans to Washington.
Matejcek went on two of the four Honor Flights after hearing about the flights from her co-worker and fellow nurse Aaron Werth.
"He had been on the first flight, and I begged him to take me as part of the medical staff on the next flights," she says.
It was a life-changing experience that Matejcek says she will never forget.
"It's just hard to explain what it means to them. They were always so moved by the welcome-home ceremonies at the Fargo airport. So many of them said to me, 'I never knew anyone cared,' " she says.
When the first round of Honor Flights ended in 2008, it was back to work for Matejcek. She kept busy enough raising three daughters, now ages 11 to 16. She also went back to school at the University of Minnesota for a doctorate in nursing practice. So she certainly wasn't looking for anything to occupy her days. But there was always a nagging feeling that her mission wasn't complete.
"I'd talk to Korean War veterans at work and they'd say, 'What about us? Can you take us on an Honor Flight?' " she says.
Then around Christmas time, as she was dealing with the death of her sister from brain cancer, she began visiting with an 85-year-old Korean War veteran and decided the time was right to dive in.
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"I asked him, 'If we put an Honor Flight together for Korean War vets would you go?' He said without a doubt that he would," she says.
What followed were more conversations with other former Honor Flight committee members who also wanted to get back in the saddle. This time, the WDAY Honor Flight aims to take any remaining WWII veterans who have not been on a previous flight along with Korean War vets and any other terminally ill veteran.
Applications are already flooding in. More than 115 veterans are ready to go, but the money needs to be there.
"This is a lifelong dream come true for some of these veterans and it will only happen with community support. We just need so much money to get these flights off the ground," she says.
Matejcek says she won't rest until it's done.
"If I can make a difference in even one person's life, that's what it's all about."
To donate to the WDAY Honor Flight project, send a check to: WDAY Honor Flight, American Legion, 308 Sheyenne St., West Fargo, ND 58078 or go online to wdayhonorflight.areavoices.com.
