Brooke Stadler’s connection with our military is one that she has had her whole life. Growing up as a pastor’s daughter in a community full of military families in Georgia, she experienced firsthand the hardships felt during deployments. Those experiences developed into a deep appreciation for the military and today she is a teacher for the department of defense, teaching the kids of military families.
Brooke first got involved with the Honor Flight Chicago program after seeing a flyer asking for volunteers while teaching elementary school at Quantico. Her first flight was actually on her birthday so she volunteered “as a birthday present to herself.” She arrived at the airport to greet her veteran and the rest is history. As a teacher, Brooke would do as many flights as she could during the summer and would tell everyone she came in contact with about her “priceless experience that was like none other” which has resulted in many parents volunteering.
Brooke finds being a guardian rewarding due to being able to give many of the veterans a proper homecoming that they did not receive. As a guardian, she feels a big responsibility to let all her veterans how much we appreciate them and view them as heroes. Brooke regards herself as someone who can and loves to talk to everyone, which is why she enjoys getting to know her veterans on the bus and watching them open up throughout the day. She enjoys getting to watch the silent drill when it is done at the Lincoln memorial and getting to take the day in while walking around the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum where she hears some of the most profound stories. At the end of the day, Brooke finds it hard to say goodbye to her veterans as “they feel like your grandparents.”
Even though Honor Flight Chicago is only a one-day event, the bond forged between guardians and veterans is one that lasts longer than the day. Brooke stays in contact with almost all of her veterans and has a “wall of fame” in her house with pictures of each of her veterans. She feels blessed to have been apart of their lives and have known their stories.
Like many other guardians, Brooke believes that the least she can do is take one day off as many of these veterans went off to war and left everything behind for years. She believes that “you can invest money which is nice, but investing time is a more meaningful way to show appreciation.” For anyone that is debating on whether to volunteer Brooke would tell you to give Honor Flight Chicago one chance because once you do it once, you will be hooked. The experiences and memories she has from the programs are ones that she cherishes and will never forget. According to her, the Chicago guardians are one big family that has reunions every month with each flight. Brooke says she is honored to be able to call herself a member of the DC guardian team as she gets to walk with heroes.
After being a guardian for three summers, Brooke had to move to Germany to teach at a base there. She was initially very upset as she would not be able to be a guardian anymore, but planned to fly back in the summer only to participate in honor flights before COVID hit. Brooke hopes that the flights will be able to resume safely in the summer so that she will be able to come back and participate. On behalf of Honor Flight Chicago, thank you Brooke for your service to the program, but also your dedication to supporting the military kids you teach!
The bond forged between guardians and veterans is one that lasts longer than the day. Brooke stays in contact with almost all of her veterans and has a “wall of fame” in her house with pictures of each of her veterans.
