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Award-winning Video Marketing » Stories Untold: Land of Lincoln Honor Flight

Stories Untold: Land of Lincoln Honor Flight

  • 4 min read

We recently worked with Steve Wheeler, Executive Board Member and Veteran Coordinator of the Land of Lincoln Honor Flight, to create a video through our Stories Untold program. The video is to honor WWII, Korean, and Vietnam era veterans who have missed out on the Land of Lincoln Honor Flight this year due to restrictions concerning Covid-19. In 2019, six flights with 550 veterans made it out to Washington to visit their memorials in Washington DC.

Steve Wheeler, Land of Lincoln Honor Flight

“I got to know The Storyteller Studios through a fundraiser. I was going to hire Josh and the team to make a video for us, but he told me about the Stories Untold initiative and worked with us to create what we needed. Josh and the team are committed to our veterans.”

— Steve Wheeler, Land of Lincoln Honor Flight, Veteran Coordinator & Executive Board Member

The video is part of a program called Flightless Honor Flight. Volunteers at Land of Lincoln Honor Flight go into the homes of veterans, play the video, and try to make the experience of visiting Washington DC as real as possible. The volunteer pauses the video a dozen or so times so they can deliver a narrative as they ordinarily would throughout the day.

“It’s perfect, the music and the way they blended everything, I couldn’t have asked for anything more.

They’re fantastic people, with their heads in the right place, and very professional. I went in with a handful of ideas, and Josh and the team ran with it. They opened up their schedule for me when I needed something done and gave me everything I needed when I needed it.

“Honestly, we’re losing veterans at a pretty rapid pace before we can get them on a flight. We have seven flights scheduled in 2021, but we have no idea if we can fly. We are way down on fundraising this year that’s going to hurt us. I’m worried we’re going to run out of money before we run out of veterans, and that’s not acceptable to me.”

— Steve Wheeler
Josh Hester, Principal, The Storyteller Studios Inc

“Steve has a huge heart for our veterans. We admire his relentless commitment to them. We can’t replace the experience of an actual honor flight, but we’re proud to work with Steve on a way to continue to honor veterans until flights can be organized again. We hope they and their families feel even the slightest bit of honor they are due.”

— Josh Hester, Principal & Executive Producer, The Storyteller Studios

If you would like to support the Land of Lincoln Honor Flight, you can do so by visiting the website and making a donation.

The Mission of Land of Lincoln Honor Flight is to provide round trip transportation from Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport in Springfield, Illinois for veterans in order of their service (WWII, Korean Era and Vietnam Era) who wish to visit their memorials in Washington, D.C. This one day trip includes air and ground transportation, meals and snacks, t-shirt and cap, and other items provided completely free of charge to the veteran in honor of his/her service to our country. Land of Lincoln Honor Flight is an established 501(c)3 not-for-profit hub of the national Honor Flight Network. Our all volunteer team manages and operates the organization while keeping administrative costs at approximately 1%. All expenses for this one day trip are the sole responsibility of the Land of Lincoln Honor Flight including the flight, ground transportation, meals/snacks, and beverages. Trained volunteer guardians provide assistance and accompany our veterans on their flight. WWII and Korean Era veterans are given priority on the waiting list. We also give top priority to any Vietnam Era veteran who has a terminal illness.