MESA, Ariz. — A Valley organization that offers free flights to veterans and their families hosted their inaugural Gold Star flight Friday.
After acquiring a four-seat Romanian Cold War-era plane, Grounded No More Veteran Flight Lift opened their free flights to families of fallen warriors.
The Gold Star flight took the Sartor family on a flight around the Superstition Mountains and Roosevelt Lake as a small token of their appreciation for the sacrifice made by their husband and father, Sgt. Maj. James “Ryan” Sartor.
A soldier’s soldier
“The shirt I have on is a quote from one of the guys who spoke at his [Sgt. Maj. Ryan Sartor’s] funeral, ‘Regular men look up to Green Berets and Green Berets looked up to Ryan Sartor,” Said Deanna Sartor, the widow of Sgt. Maj. Sartor.
Sgt. Maj. Sartor was killed in action on July 13, 2019, while leading a patrol in Afghanistan. Sgt. Maj. Sartor started his military career as an infantryman before eventually becoming a Green Beret.
“He just lived to be there with his men, and teach them everything he knows about combat,” said Deanna Sartor to the group of volunteers at Grounded No More. “He was on 11 combat tours to Iraq, Africa, and Afghanistan.”
A fun little adrenaline rush
“That's why we have this airplane,” said Tony Anger, founder of Grounded No More Veteran Flight Lift, on the four-seater plane.
“We purchased it strictly to take up Gold Star families just to show our appreciation for them, what they've been through, and just give them a fun little adrenaline rush that hopefully was a happy memory.”
The plane, called The Maria Steaua de aur a Dreptatii, which translates to Mary, The Golden Star of Justice, took Deanna and her two children around the skies of eastern Maricopa Country, showing the Coloradans some of the Sonoran desert’s beauty.
Over the past six years, Anger and his team of volunteers have taken hundreds of veterans into the sky in his Fairchild PT-26 two-seater WWII trainer. With the acquisition of the four-seater, the non-profit can now reach out to more families of service members, especially Gold Star families.
“The veterans are the lifeblood of our country and those that have given their lives for this country, paying the ultimate sacrifice, I mean, what don't we owe them? You know, I would do anything I could for these people: they're just amazing,” Said Anger.
The volunteers at Grounded No More know that this inaugural Gold Star flight started the right way.
“He just did everything for everybody, you know, and he could crack people up. He could care for people. He mentored a lot of soldiers through his career,” Deanna said of her husband. “And I hope that he's remembered for as long as we're around. We'll work towards keeping him in everyone's minds and keeping his legacy alive.”
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