Dohogne family honors memory of fallen members with additions to Avenue of Flags

The Dohogne family received five new flags to the Avenue of Flags at Cape County Park North this past Memorial Day, honoring members of the family who died after their time in the military.

Members of the family who received flags: Emmett, Silas, Thomas Sr., Urban and Anthony — all served during World War II, except Thomas Sr., who served in the Vietnam War. The flags were dedicated in a ceremony May 31.

“They were all super, super amazing individuals, and I’m not just saying that because I’m related to them,” Chris Dohogne, Emmett’s son, said with a laugh.

Chris said although he comes from a long line of veterans, his father, who died in October 1994, had the largest impact on him. Chris said he will never forget the “Saving Private Ryan”-moment he and his father shared, referring to the 1998 film.

Emmett was born in Kelso, Missouri, and served as a bombardier on a B-17 during World War II in Germany. He was stationed in Chesterton, England, with the 305th Bomb Group, 365th Bomb Squadron of the 8th Army Air Corps.

According to Chris, Emmett’s plane was shot down on his fifth mission. All 10 members of the crew were captured except Emmett, who was sent to a German prisoner of war hospital with a wounded knee.

Chris said Emmett had shrapnel in his leg and instead of amputating it, which Chris said is common at POW hospitals, the surgeon removed the shrapnel.

Chris followed in his family members’ footsteps and went on to serve in the Army. He served for almost 23 years, many of which he said were spent in foreign countries, such as South Korea and Germany, before retiring as a master sergeant.

While Chris was stationed in Germany in 1990, he said his father came to visit him. They traveled to Moosburg, Germany, where Emmett had been held at a POW camp.

“He had tears streaming down his cheeks, and I asked what was wrong, and Pop said, ‘This is where I stood every day and prayed that I would get home to your mother.’”

Chris said his father only knew that was where the camp had been because of the twin church steeples in Moosburg. He and his father went inside the churches, which Chris described as an emotional experience.

“I was very blessed to have been able to share that moment in time — to share in that experience with my dad,” Chris said. “It was one out of probably only two or three times, max, in my entire life that I ever saw tears coming out of my fathers’ eyes.”

Although Chris couldn’t attend the dedication ceremony on Memorial Day, he sent a brief description of his experience with his father in Germany to one of his cousins, who read it at the ceremony.