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WWII Vet Tour Stops in Sidney

Nearly every person can think of a time or event that has lingered as an "if only I had..." memory. The change to do something daring or to take a chance with a career opportunity or a relationship.

Sidney Walton and his son Paul decided to address the regrets in life as part of a bucket list tour. Sidney Walton has the honor of being a surviving World War II veteran, one of a constantly decreasing few. With the number of veterans diminishing, they decided to tour the United States. It is a bucket list tour because the tour is scheduled for them to return home in time for Sidney's century celebration. He stopped at Dude's in Sidney Thursday, one of his stops in Nebraska.

Sidney met Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts June 13, then beginning a four-day tour of the state.

"We're doing this 'No Regrets Tour' because dad, when he was 20 years old, missed an opportunity to meet Civil War veterans," Paul said.

He said it was an opportunity of a lifetime. Missing the chance to meet the veterans is a regret he has carried with him his entire life.

Paul added when his dad turned 99, they decided to do a 50-state tour with the goal of meeting the "common people" of each state.

"I'm very happy, meeting with these people," Sidney Walton said Thursday.

Sidney was born Feb. 11, 1919 in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1941 in response to Hitler's rise to power, only a few months before the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was married in 1960 in San Diego, Calif. His wife lost her battle with cancer at the age of 56.

The tour has included eight states so far, with 42 to go. The family has visited the states of Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine, Connecticut, New York (including Central Park and a private meeting with Gov. Andrew Cuomo), New Jersey. They have also former Presidents George W. and George H.W. Bush, Gov. Phil Murphy and First Lady Tammy Murphy, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb in a private meeting and public ceremony on Memorial Day, and recently meeting Gov. Ricketts when the rest of the Nebraska tour was announced.

In addition to a tour of no regrets, the 50-state event is an opportunity for "common people" to meet a World War II veteran, and to encourage families to spend more time with their elderly parents. Paul said he hopes the tour is an inspiration for families with elderly parents to take them from assisted living centers and on bucket list adventures.

They're next stop is planned for Grand Island, noon Eastern Time, followed by Columbus and Norfolk.

 

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