About 70 dignitaries and spectators from across the country joined Richardson for the unveiling of the museum’s Legacy Data Plate Wall of Honor. The wall was an idea dreamed up eight months ago by Matt Lynch, the membership manager and development associate for the Air Force Museum Foundation.
Lynch transformed what was originally intended to be a brick pathway into the stainless-steel Wall of Honor that will tell the stories of “airmen, patriots and loved ones” for years to come.
“This Wall of Honor will play an important role in preserving the stories of those special airmen and other individuals who have served the cause of freedom and military aviation,” said retired Air Force Col. Thomas Moe, director of the Ohio Department of Veterans Services.
For $250, donors can submit the name of a person, a personal message, and significant dates that will be etched into each plate. In addition, personal information, photos and videos can be placed on the foundation’s website.
Retired Air Force Lt. General Richard V. Reynolds, the foundation’s CEO, said it is important to display the names of veterans and other patriots since their stories are part of the nation’s history and the museum’s legacy.
“The ability of the individual citizen to add a story to this museum for the most part has been missing. This Legacy Data Plate Wall of Honor changes that,” Reynolds said.
The foundation will use the profits raised from the data plates to contribute money for the addition of the museum’s new $48 million fourth wing, which will house the Space, Presidential Aircraft, and Global Reach galleries.
The new addition is an added benefit for the foundation and especially for Lynch, who said he was touched by the impact the plates have had on those who have purchased them.
“These first two panels represent over 170 stories; stories that we are able to help tell and individuals we are able to help honor,” he said. “It’s just amazing to see how much these data plates really mean to people, and I feel so privileged to be on this project.”
Richardson said she not only honored her father, Harold Patton, with a plate, but also her 19-year-old son, Derek. He died in 2005 in a car accident while he was a cadet at Cedarville University.
“These data plates were actually for me,” she said. “I’m at the museum a lot, and this is a place for me to remember them and show people and tell their stories over and over again.”
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2113 or kelsey.cundiff@coxinc.com.
About the Author