Rev. Charles “Chuck” Sheffler stays busy.
At 81, the St. Germain resident serves a church, volunteers with veterans organizations, sings in a choir, performs in community theater and rides with the American Legion Riders.
Given his active lifestyle, it’s fitting that Sheffler’s Fourth of July plans are anything but ordinary. On July 4, he will be in Pittsburgh, Pa., to escort a special American flag to Washington, D.C., as part of America’s 250th anniversary celebration.
One of 250 American Legion Riders selected nationwide, Sheffler is also one of 14 participants from Wisconsin and the only person from Vilas County taking part in the ride.
“I heard from our state director that this was going on, put my name in and I got it,” Sheffler said. “I’m super proud to be a veteran. I love the 250th anniversary stuff going on. To be one of only 250 Legion Riders from all over the country to do this is an honor.”
The American flag has spent the past year traveling throughout the world as part of a project coordinated by the American Battle Monuments Commission, the National Flag Foundation and the National Sheriffs’ Association.
The journey began in June 2025, when the National Flag Foundation presented an 8-foot-by-5-foot American flag to representatives of the American Battle Monuments Commission at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington.
Transported by United Parcel Service, the flag traveled to American military cemeteries overseas, where it was flown above sites where nearly 150,000 service members are buried, as well as over U.S. territories and all 50 states.
The flag visited Wisconsin during the second week of March and flew over The Highground in Neillsville, among other locations.
“Highground is a 155-acre plot of ground that’s dedicated to veterans of all wars,” Sheffler said. “If you’ve seen the statues in D.C., they’ve got statues like that there. I call it Holy Ground because it’s really beautiful, and it’s public and maintained by volunteers.”
The flag has also traveled to state capitals, county courthouses, civic events and solemn observances throughout the country. It will arrive at the National Flag Foundation in Pittsburgh on July 1, where American Legion Riders will escort it to Washington, D.C.
Sheffler said the journey invites Americans to pause and reflect.
“The effort honors the nation’s most prized symbol and pays tribute to military men and women, including those who gave their lives in service to the ideals the flag represents,” he said.
As a U.S. Army veteran who served from 1964 to 1967, which included 13 months in Korea and 19 months in Berlin, Sheffler has always been a strong advocate for the American flag.
“Probably seven or eight years ago, I submitted an editorial on Flag Day to the News-Review about how you’re supposed to treat the flag,” he said. “At the time, Pick ‘n Save was flying horrible-looking flags — they were all torn up and everything. And so I wrote this editorial, you guys printed it, and it was probably about a month later that they changed all their flags.”
In addition to being a life member of the American Legion and American Legion Riders, Sheffler is a life member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and a member of the Northwoods Honor Guard. In May 2023, he was one of 50 riders who escorted The Wall That Heals, a traveling replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, into Rhinelander.
When not supporting veterans’ causes, Sheffler — or “The Rev” as he’s known — serves as pastor at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Iron River, Mich., though retired from full-time ministry. He also serves as District 11 chaplain for the American Legion Riders, chaplain at Northwoods National Cemetery and track chaplain for the World Championship Derby Complex.
Sheffler has also performed in more than 300 musical theater productions, including paid, summer stock and community theater productions, and is a member of the local Vacationland Voices choir, which is preparing for a big patriotic performance at the end of the month.
About a week before leaving for Pittsburgh, Sheffler admitted he was feeling a bit overwhelmed.
“I’m getting nervous — I’ve been nervous since the weekend,” he said by phone, rattling off a miles-long to-do list.
On the morning of July 4, the group plans to leave Pittsburgh with a police escort at approximately 5 a.m., with an estimated arrival in Washington around noon. Once there, the flag will be presented to the America 250 Commission to be flown over the Capitol.
After the event, the flag will become a teaching artifact, and the lessons and stories collected during its travels will live on through digital archives, classroom materials and public exhibits.
Talk of the upcoming trip quickly helped Sheffler reframe his jitters. “I am highly, highly honored to be doing this,” he said.
With that, he hung up to return to his errands before heading east to represent the Northwoods of Wisconsin at the nation’s 250th anniversary celebration.
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