As we celebrate the men and women who have served our country, we’re also proud to share that we provide two-way radios and accessories to the Stars and Stripes Honor Flight, based here in Wisconsin. Stars and Stripes is part of the national Honor Flight Network, a non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring our veterans feel appreciated by escorting them, at no charge, to see their memorials in Washington, DC. Since its inception in 2005, the network—which now includes nearly 140 “hubs” across the country—has escorted nearly 250,000 WWII, Korean War and Vietnam War veterans to our nation’s capital.
From Wisconsin’s Stars and Stripes Honor Flight hub, volunteers organize seven flights a year to Washington, DC. At both the airport and on the ground in our nation’s capital, the radios we provide help bus drivers, tour coordinators, managers and board members keep veterans safe.
“For us, veteran safety is paramount,” said Karyn Roelke, Stars and Stripes Honor Flight Vice President. “We’re taking these older veterans out of their comfort zone and to a completely different location which is sometimes very stressful, particularly for those World War II and Korean vets in their nineties, and being able to quickly communicate with our team is such an important part of keeping the veterans safe. Our radios allow us immediate connections with each other, the ability to immediately solve problems. If we were trying to text or call each other, it would be much more difficult. So we’re incredibly grateful to BAYCOM for the help and the service that they provide for us and for our veterans.”
For those of us here at BAYCOM, providing radios to the Stars and Stripes organization is an honor.
“One of the things we all love about working here is the fact that the stuff that we do actually makes a difference. It’s not cliché, it’s not us just saying that because it’s catchy and gets people excited. It’s because we really are involved in those key moments,” said Terence Ploszaj, BAYCOM Director of Sales and Marketing. “We’re designing systems we know make a difference. We know it matters with the Stars and Stripes veterans. We know it matters with our first responders. We know it matters with law enforcement and public safety. We know safety matters in the hospitality industry, in steel mills and in manufacturing facilities. Across all of our customer bases, our equipment is helping to protect people—and that matters a lot to us.”
Learn more about the Stars and Stripes Honor Flight on the organization’s website.