Ronzio travels to Norway with American flag
The American flag Terry Ronzio II of Holbrook plans to present to a military unit on Sept. 11 has already traveled a much greater distance than the 500 miles he carried the five other flags he has given to soldiers. He took the flag with him on a 3,800-mile trip across the Atlantic Ocean to Norway, his first trip outside the United States, to see his girlfriend, and then carried it on a 12-mile hike in the Forbords Mountains outside of the seaside town of Frosta.
“It’s like going back in time in western Pennsylvania, but with modern farming,” Ronzio said. “I was amazed at all the modern farming techniques. Everything they eat is from Norway. It’s all local produce like the ’60s and ’70s here. That’s what we have to get back to.”
Ronzio, 44, who is running for the U.S. Congress on the Unity Party ticket against Rep. John P. Murtha, the longest serving House member, for the 12th Congressional District seat, began a trek in 2006 to walk one mile for every American service member killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
More than 4,000 U.S. military personnel have been killed in five years of fighting.
He presents the flags he carries during each 500-mile leg of his journey to a local military unit.
So far, Ronzio has given five flags to area Army National Guard reserve units and walked 2,861 miles, including 361 miles with the flag taken to Norway. His goal is to carry that flag 500 miles, reaching a total of 3,000 miles, by Sept. 11 and present the flag to a military unit.
He took a second flag, a special one, with him on his trip to Norway.
“That flag was given to me by a Marine Sgt. Joseph McNeer. He fought in the battle of Fallujah (Iraq),” Ronzio said. “Two of his friends were killed in battle. They had the flag with them.”
McNeer traveled from his home in Ohio to Greene County last summer when Ronzio presented the flag from the first 500 miles he walked to members of the Army Nation Guard unit in Waynesburg at a ceremony at the Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Waynesburg.
In exchange, he said he gave McNeer the Boy Scouts Order of the Arrow sash that he carried during his walks. The Order of the Arrow is the Boy Scout’s national honor society.
Ronzio said he promised to carry McNeer’s flag, which has a patch signifying his chemical and biological incident response unit, for the rest of his patriotic walk.
“I’ll never leave home without that flag while I’m walking for the troops,” Ronzio said.
He had it with him during the 15 hours it took to travel to the mountainous Norway and had in his backpack when his girlfriend, her sister and others showed him around places like Trondheim, which is across a deep fjord from Frosta, and Munk Island, one of the thousands of islands off the country’s rugged coastline.
That glacial topography probably aided the Vikings in their raids into Europe centuries ago.
“It’s a beautiful country,” Ronzio said.
Trondheim was the Nazi’s base of operations when they occupied Norway during World War II, Ronzio said.
The Nazis ran a prison camp near Trondheim and used Munk Island, which was a Norwegian military outpost and an ancient prison, as a submarine base taking advantage of the steep mountains that shelter deep fjords and provides easy access to the North Sea.
The remains of observations platforms, anti-aircraft guns and cannons remain on the island. A British surveillance plane that was shot down also is on display on the island, he said.
Ronzio said warm temperatures added to the enjoyment of his visit in late July and early August, but the climate is similar to that of Alaska. He said the one or two hours of darkness made sleeping difficult.
The northern-most reaches of the northern European county are tundra and extend into the Artic Circle. Norway borders Sweden to the east.
Ronzio said he didn’t see any litter in the towns he visited and he learned the country has an active recycling program. He said people receive money for turning in plastic bottles.
Radio stations play American music and, Ronzio said, Norwegians are taught English in school.
He said he was a bit puzzled that his girlfriend didn’t eat fish, even though she is a vegetarian. Fishing is one of the country’s primary industries, but he didn’t know if she just didn’t like fish or fish wasn’t a common food where she lived.
Norwegian people seemed to share Ronzio’s sense of patriotism, he said.
“There was a flagpole in every yard. I was inspired by their patriotism,” Ronzio said. “You’ve got to be proud of your country and your heritage. You’ve got to show support for those who defend you.”