Ridge goes on Honor Flight
Joyce M. Searson, Publisher
Betty Ridge of Bamberg, a
Veteran of World War II, was
chosen to go on the ‘Honor
Flight.’
The flight carrying the
World War II Veterans left
Columbia Metropolitan Airport
at 7:30 am on Wednesday, May
23, and landed in Washington
D.C. at 9 am.
The ‘Honor Flight’ was
started to fly World War II
Veterans to Washington D.C. to
see the World War II Memorial.
It is an all day experience
starting with breakfast at the
airport and they are served lunch
at the memorials. Each veteran
is assigned a guardian to assist
them with whatever they need
throughout the entire day.
Ridge said this was an
experience that she will never
forget and it made her feel so
proud to have served her
country.
She toured the Lincoln
Memorial, the Korean
Memorial, the Vietnam
Memorial, and the World War II
Memorial.
“The World War II
Memorial was unbelievable with
its wall of 4000 stars. Each star
commemorates every 100
Americans who died during
World War II. It was very
emotional for me. At the end of
the day, I felt so appreciated and
so honored to have served my
country,” said Ridge.
At the age of 90 years-old,
she has a very vivid memory of
the war, as she reminisced, tears
started to well up in her eyes, but
she continued on with her story.
While living in Austin
Texas, she and her friend
enlisted in the United States
Navy as Navy Waves in
October of 1944...Because this
was such a classified department
of the Navy, very few people
knew it even existed. Ridge
remembers thinking she was
going to radio school in Seattle,
Washington, but found out later
that was not the case.
"I actually thought I was
going to learn Morse Code, but
instead I learned a classified
code... the Japanese code. We
were given special typewriters
and would listen to signals and
the typewriters would do the
rest. I can't say for sure if the
messages we took played a part
in the United States winning the
war."
She stayed in the Navy until
VJ Day, Victory over Japan,
September 2, 1945.
While in Seattle, she met
her husband, Albert H. Ridge,
and they were married on the
west coast. They moved to
South Carolina in July of 1946,
when their son Mike was five years old.
They later had two more
children, Pam and Tim.
Ridge says things were a lot
different back in those days.
Everyone worked together as a
nation to do whatever was
necessary to win the war.
She said before the
bombing of Pearl Harbor,
December 7, 1941, everyone
living in the United States felt
safe because of the vast oceans
that separated it from other
countries. After that day, the
oceans were no longer big
enough nor wide enough.
"I am a proud veteran. The
Honor flight made me feel
grateful that we have such a
wonderful country to live in...the
greatest country in the
world...We need to keep it that
way."
