Former Gackle resident Alcuin Scheet to join Honor Flight to Washington, D.C.

Alcuin “Al” Scheet, a former Gackle resident now living in Bismarck, will make the trip of a lifetime this weekend when the Western North Dakota Honor Flight takes him to Washington, D.C., with his granddaughter, Jennifer Henderson. Scheet, 89, said he was thrilled to learn he not only made the trip, but was moved to the top of the list because of his age, a small but meaningful recognition for a Navy veteran whose service has spent decades waiting for this kind of public tribute.

Henderson, who is from Streeter and also lives in Bismarck, encouraged Scheet to apply and told him she would go with him if he was selected. Their trip ties together two Stutsman County communities with deep roots, from Streeter, founded in 1905, to Gackle, where Scheet and his wife lived from 1988 to 2014. It also reaches into the county’s larger civic story, where Jamestown’s courthouse is described as the birthplace of statehood.

Scheet’s military path began near Balta and took shape after he graduated from Rugby High School in 1955. He entered boot camp in 1956 and asked to be placed in electronics. The Navy assigned him to aviation electronics, and his active-duty service ran from 1956 to 1960. During that time, he served in Great Lakes, Illinois; Norman, Oklahoma; Millington, Tennessee; Alameda, California; and Fallon, Nevada. He left the Navy as an AT3, or aviation electronics technician third class.

After his military service, Scheet worked at Central Grasslands Research Station north of Streeter for 16 years, staying there until 1996. Today, his family stretches across four children, 11 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren, a local legacy that now connects one Gackle-area veteran’s story to a national act of remembrance.

The Western North Dakota Honor Flight says its mission is to transport veterans to Washington, D.C., to visit memorials dedicated to their service and sacrifices, at no cost to the veteran. The nonprofit gives top priority to senior veterans, especially World War II and Korean War survivors and terminally ill veterans, and it logs applications in the order received. Travel companions fly with veterans on every flight for safety and support, and the organization says its flights include medical staff and licensed EMS personnel.

This weekend’s ninth trip to Washington will include visits to the World War II Memorial, Korean War Veterans Memorial, Vietnam Veterans Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery, along with other stops such as the Lincoln Memorial, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the National Air and Space Museum, the Capitol and a banquet. Veterans are expected back at Bismarck Airport on April 27 at about 7 p.m., with free parking available for the welcome-home event. For families across Stutsman County, Scheet’s flight is a reminder that gratitude for military service can still be made visible, even if it arrives years later.