Air Force vet makes drive to see flag flying atop state’s tallest flagpole; city manager provides the personal tour
Old Glory could be flying again by Tuesday, but just before the flag had to be lowered from Florida’s largest pole because of a tear last week, it lifted the spirits of an Air Force veteran thanks to a kind gesture from the Cape Coral city manager.
Air Force veteran Bill Champion, a resident of Sebring, had learned about the 250-foot pole and flag from a friend who viewed it from thousands of feet in the air while flying into Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW).
Champion, 83, who served from 1962-66, had to see this magnificent symbol of freedom. Recently, after babysitting grandchildren in Babcock Ranch, he and his wife, Dolores, decided to drive to Cape Coral to find the flag before they returned home. “I wanted to see it. I am an American,” Champion said.
Trouble was they couldn’t find it. They tried websites and GPS with no success. So, they drove to Cape Coral City Hall. Surely, somebody there could point them in the right direction. Sure enough, Maureen Buice, the assistant to the city manager, happened to be standing outside when the Champions walked to the front entrance.
“The young lady said, ‘may I help you,’?” said Champion, who uses a walker after suffering a stroke. “I told her who I was and what I was looking for. As we were talking, Mike (city manager Ilczyszyn) came out. Now, I am just a stranger, just some guy from Sebring, Florida, for crying out loud. Mike said, ‘what time is it? I have got time to run you down there.” So, he jumped in his car and we followed him down there.”
“Once I learned they weren’t really going to be able to understand the directions (to get to the flag), it was just my natural instinct to be their tour guide and host into our community,” Ilczyszyn said. “It’s just who I am.”
He told the Champions about his vision for the pole and the flag. How he was performing counter drug operations while in the Navy when he noticed a large Mexican flag about 5 to 6 miles offshore near Cancun.
“As soon as saw it, it struck me at a young age in the military, why don’t we have flags like this on our coastlines where people driving in can see our symbol of freedom?” Ilczyszyn remembered. “I always had a vision for what to do for the 250th (anniversary of the United States) and to have a 250-foot flagpole, not knowing at the time it was be the tallest in Florida and second tallest in the country (the tallest is in Sheboygan, Wis., standing 400 feet high).
“It was great to know somebody that loves the country as much as he does,” Champion said.
The Champions talked to the city manager about the size of the flag, measuring 6,000 square feet and weighing 300 pounds. “That would cover my house,” Champion said.
Champion was also curious about the size of the stars and stripes on the immense flag and how deep the pole went into the ground. That sparked an idea. Ilczyszyn plans to put informational signs leading from the Chamber of Commerce of Cape Coral to the flag in Bernie Braden Park, explaining some of those details.
“Spending the day with him, and if we are going to have visitors coming here, why have them leave with unanswered questions. It’s an opportunity to provide more meaningful things.”
Repairing the flag
But the first course of business will be returning the flag to its rightful position. Less than 12 hours after his visit with the Champions, Ilczyszyn received an early-morning phone call about a problem with the flag. It was bunched in one section and not flying freely. The canvas had ripped near one of the flag’s rings.
Turns out the flag manufacturer had received a similar call about a similar problem with a flag in Oklahoma. The company believes it received a bad batch of material and that was the reason for the tear. The flag was returned to the manufacturer in Texas, and a new flag could be here as early as today or Monday and could be flying again by Tuesday.
Champion’s background
Born in Lakeland, Bill Champion has lived in Florida his entire life. While in the Air Force, he took care of telephone switching equipment, spending half of his service in Bermuda. After retiring, he began a civilian career in the phone industry, starting at $1.91 an hour, before eventually retiring from United Telephone Company, which was bought out by Sprint and then CenturyLink.
Then, Champion decided he could put his long, white beard to use. He became a Santa Claus and his wife, Mrs. Claus. They toured the country for about 16 years, playing Santa and Mrs. Claus at various malls. They never worked in Florida because “I thought somebody might recognize me.”
How rewarding was it for Santa? “Nothing made me more happy than to have a child sit on my knee, look me straight in the eye and say, ‘I love you Santa.'”
Next month, the Champions will celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary. Seeing that flag, getting a personal tour by the city manager certainly was an early anniversary gift.
“It was a godsend,” Champion said.
To reach TOM HAYDEN, please email news@breezenewspapers.com