Column: Local Navy veteran honored with flight to Washington D.C.

Dear readers,

Last week, Claudia Palmer called to tell me that her uncle, Sonny Palmer (photo), was being honored with a trip to Washington D.C. Palmer was one of the veterans recently chosen by the group “Indy Honor Flight” to see the monuments in our nation’s capital. 

Indy Honor Flight is a non-profit organization created solely to honor Indiana’s veterans for their service and sacrifice. The organization makes all the necessary arrangements to transport WWII, Korea, and Vietnam wartime veterans to see those magnificent memorials built in their honor. 

I’ve known Warren “Sonny” Palmer since we were both kids growing up near Morrison Park, which is home to Shelbyville’s monument to the veterans of WWI. Adult men that we knew in the 1960s, who were our present age then, were mostly all WWI veterans. Men the age of our parents were either WWII or Korean wartime veterans. 

Claudia told me that the folks at Indy Honor Flight had asked her to contact Sonny’s friends and see if they wanted to write a note to Sonny.  The notes would then be given to Sonny for something to read on the flight. I did and will share it with you at the end of my column. But first, let’s revisit the last time Sonny made an appearance in my column.

Twenty years ago, there were several stories in the news about toasters malfunctioning and producing burnt toast with an image of a face. Of course, the image burnt into the toast was always of a famous person.

In 2004 the Golden Palace casino paid $20,000 for a piece of toast with the image of Elvis.

Soon thereafter I received the following letter from Sonny.

Dear Kris,

You have no doubt read about the woman with the broken toaster who hit the jackpot when it popped out an Elvis toast. The same thing happened to me, but it wasn’t Elvis.

My toaster was burning my toast every morning. I didn’t replace it because I was thinking that sooner or later it might pop out a valuable piece of burnt toast.

One morning from across the room I could see a wisp of black smoke coming from my toaster. When it popped up, I could tell there was an image of a person burnt into it. I grabbed it quickly for a better look. I thought I might have hit the jackpot. 

As I studied that burnt piece of toast, I couldn’t believe how well defined the image was and that the person was instantly recognizable.  Unfortunately, it was an image of Bruce Basey.

Yes, the same Bruce Basey who grew up on the southside of town with us and is now a member of you Schwinn team. I’m sure you would agree that a “Toasted” Basey is worthless. So, I just buttered it up and had it for breakfast. 

Believe it or not,

Sonny

I close this week with my note I gave Claudia to give to Sonny on his honor flight.

Warren “Sonny” Palmer,

Thank you for your service. Your courage and dedication in the 1970s, a time of great uncertainty and challenge in our country, are deeply appreciated. Though I have never served, I am grateful for the sacrifices you made to protect our freedoms and uphold the values we hold dear.

With sincere gratitude,

Kris Meltzer

See you all next week, same Schwinn time, same Schwinn channel.

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