Lyndon, Kansas Honor flight was at World War II Memorial. Brian Spencer, Superintendent of the Lyndon, Kansas school system has been in twice this year and I believe he is doing another couple of trips. He always brings his students and they really put a lot of effort into a beautiful ceremony.

He wrote the following: “…Other than being a husband and parent, Honor Flight is the most meaningful thing I have ever done. I conceived the idea of having students in my high school accompany WWII Vets to see the memorial last fall. I was discussing the possiblities with my brother and we knew it was a great idea, but we didn’t know how to make all the connections in D.C. A few days later my Uncle, who is a WW II vet. had a stroke right before a family gathering. That evening I decided we needed to get started on this project before it was too late. My idea was students with family members or close family friends that werer WWII would invite those people first. We would then take all the local vets we could gather to fill the group.

I sent a letter to every kid in my high school asking them to bring a parent and attend a meeting if they were interested in the project. Thirteen kids came to the first meeting. (That is the perfect number.) After another meeting our number had doubled, and we decided to make two trips, one in the fall and one in the spring. Unfortunately, I still didn’t know how I was going to make all the connections in D.C., and we were beginning to run short on time. The day I had a meeting scheduled to decide whether we could go in the fall or not, I heard Earl Morse being interviewed on American Family Radio by Dr. Dobson. At that point I ralized my idea was not unique. There were other people doing the sort of thing I was visioning! I called the number Earl gave on the air. An hour later he called me back, and withing another hour I was buying airplane tickets! He assured me he would help with the arrangements in D.C.

Money was not a large obstacle for us. I wrote some letters and received some significant grants. I spoke at my church and without even asking for money, was handed $4000. (I belive God wants us to be doing this, and we are in his will.) We have flown three groups ourselves, and we are now helping other groups organize. We call ourselves Honor Flight Kansas – Student Edition. Other schools around the state are forming flights, and we are also helping groups that are not using students as chaperones. There are Four more flights scheduled to fly out of Kansas in the next few months, and more are still working on selecting dates.

The concept of high school guardians is a great piece of the program for us. We accepted any kid that wanted to be a part of it, and we stressed to them this is a servant activity. They are giving of themselves and serving these veterans for a day. It is by no means easy or a good sight seeing trip, but it will change the way they look at older people, and society in general. We receive comments like, “These are the best kids in the world. They are better than my own!” Watching a “tough” high school athlete remove a veterans shoes and belt, and then assist him as he tries to pass throught the metal detector is inspiring. It shows there is good in people, and kids are not like most people think they are. Give these kids this opportunity and they will be successful, I promise. Relationships have been formed they never imagined a few months ago. The veterans attend the kids athletic events, they take them out to eat, they write letters back and forth. Many Lyndon high school graduates will have WWII veterans attend their graduation parties as honored guests later this month. Like I said, it is a great program for the entire community.

We will be more than happy to share our system with other groups and get them started. If every school would begin a program to serve their local veterans and get them to their memorial we could get everyone there in the next year or two. That is a very realisitc goal…..”

I think his values are shared by all the participants in Honor Flight.

Honor Flight is featured in Jewel of the Mall: World War II Memorial book.