More Than a Ride: Helping a 92-Year-Old POW Survivor Reach a Moment He Waited a Lifetime For

August Sterling with Feonix - Mobility Rising, Catch a Ride Network Team Members, Cliff Craves and Jonathan Braddick

At 92 years old, Korean War veteran and former prisoner of war August Sterling needed reliable transportation to his healthcare appointments.

August lives in Midlothian, Texas, uses a wheelchair, and had few affordable transportation options available to reach the VA, specialty medical care and the pharmacy. A VA representative referred him to Feonix through the Texas Rural Veterans Access to Care Initiative, which provides free transportation support for veterans in rural communities.

When our team connected with August and his daughter, Rosita, they were relieved by how simple it was to enroll and begin arranging the transportation he needed.

Then, during those conversations, we learned there was another trip that mattered deeply to August.

He had been invited to a special ceremony honoring his bravery and military service. Even more meaningful, he would have the opportunity to reconnect with another survivor who had shared an unimaginable chapter of his life.

More than 70 years earlier, August served as a U.S. Navy frogman during the Korean War. He was captured during a mission in 1951 and remained a prisoner of war for more than two and a half years. Of the five men who entered that mission, only two survived. His extraordinary story of courage and survival was later documented in a 2014 KPLC interview.

This was more than another destination on a calendar. It was a moment August deserved to experience.

Catch a Ride worked with our transportation partners to make sure he could get there safely and comfortably.

And he did.

August was there to receive the recognition he had earned, reconnect with someone who understood a part of his story few others ever could, and share that moment with his daughter.

Afterward, August told our team:

“This is a moment I will cherish forever.”

His story is a reminder that transportation is about more than miles.

Sometimes it means reaching the doctor, picking up a prescription or getting to treatment.

And sometimes, because that connection already exists, it means making sure someone can be present for a moment they have waited a lifetime to experience.

For Catch a Ride, it was an honor to play one small part in August’s remarkable journey.

August, thank you for your courage, your sacrifice and your service.