Russell Hoffert was born on June 11, 1920. At the age of 4, his mother died in childbirth.  An Uncle and Aunt in Claypool, adopted Russell and his brother Archie. He worked on the Claypool farm until his WWII enlistment date. Russell was a 1938 graduate of Claypool High School. He married Warsaw resident Marjorie Eaton on April 26, 1943. Soon afterwards Russell enlisted in the Army Air Corp on July 16, 1943.

Russell enlisted in Warsaw for recruitment along with other Warsaw-area natives. Almost immediately he was sent to Greensboro, N.C., then followed by Shepherdsville, Texas, for basic training. Following basis training, he was sent to Denver, Colo., for clerical and logistic training. It was there he received orders in the spring of 1944 to New York City for passage on the troop ship Queen Mary headed for England and the preparation for the D-Day invasion of Nazi occupied Europe.

In preparation for the D-Day invasion, Russell vividly remembers the tension of knowing something big was coming, yet most involved were not privileged to the big picture of the operation or details. On D-Day +2, Russell was transported on a Higgins boat across the English Channel to the Normandy coast.  Once at the Normandy Coast, he waded onto dry land where his company began to organize the logistics operation to assist in supplying the Allied forces with needed bombs and munitions for the Army Air Corp bombers.

Russell remembers Europe as being a beautiful continent, but much of the area was ravaged by the war. He traveled through St. Lo as the ashes of the city were still burning. During the Battle of the Bulge, the transportation of materials and clerical work kept him roughly 20 miles away from the front lines of the battle. His memories were of knowing what was happening a few miles away and keeping a gun next to him at all times, although most of the clerical work stayed routine.

His new bride, Marjorie Eaton Hoffert, stayed in Warsaw, and worked for the telephone company as an operator. Most of the time, the censorship of the letters kept her from knowing his full location or daily tasks. As the Allied forces won the war in Europe, he was prepared to board a transportation ship in preparation of the invasion of Japan. Before his transportation happened, Victory in Japan (VJ Day) took place. In the following weeks, companies of the men started to dismantle, and troops started the process of returning home in a post-war world. He and two other men shared the same tasks and had acquired enough points to go home in the first waves. These three men cut a deck of cards to determine who would go home first. Russell cut the Ace of Clubs and found himself headed back across the Atlantic Ocean on a Liberty Ship.

Upon returning home, Russell reunited with his new bride and returned to Warsaw. He worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad, Managed Shrine Shoe Store in Warsaw, was an insurance agent for Mutual of Omaha in Warsaw and then opened up his own painting business Warsaw Interior Decoration. He and Marjorie had two children, three grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Marjorie passed away in 2008. Russell still lives in Fort Wayne at the age of 95. He enjoys driving to his favorite restaurant everyday to meet with his breakfast and lunch club friends.

Russell attended the 16th Honor Flight from Northwest Indiana to the WWII Memorial in Washington DC on September 16th. Eighty Veterans will be on the flight. Each one has a volunteer chaperone and the NorthWest Indiana Honor Flight will have volunteers helping organize the day-long activities in Washington to honor these heroes.

David Hoffert (Russell’s grandson) applied for his acceptance on the flight and will be serving as his volunteer chaperone for the day. On the return flight home, a special mail call of letters will be given to each of the Veterans. David shared this opportunity to honor these Hoosier Heroes with the WCS administrative team. Within a week, students of every grade level wrote an estimated 1200 thank-you letters and pictures to honor these men and women. Each veteran on the Honor Flight will receive between 10-15 pieces of mail from WCS students.