Model prisoners please vets with workmanship

Southeast Correctional Center inmates in Charleston, Missouri, collaborating with Southeast Missouri State University's restorative justice program have made some Missouri veterans happy. They built a B-17 Flying Fortress model plane for residents of the Missouri Veterans Home.

This World War II bomber replica was made with care; it is not a snap-in-place model that many young people today enjoy. No, this one took time to create. If there's anything inmates have, it's time, and they used some of theirs so turn Popsicle sticks, plastic, toothpicks and other items into a replica that represents history and heroism.

Mark Bartlett, restorative justice coordinator at the prison, explained the meticulous touch that went into the project -- for logistical reasons, if nothing else. Inmates are denied access to sharp objects, so they have to work extra hard to whittle down edges and fine-tune their creation. Certainly, that's not the most convenient way to construct something, but it does add a level of pride. In this regard, the end result not only made the veterans feel good, but it made the inmates feel good about themselves, as well, especially since they also had to mentally digest diagrams in books to properly construct the model. "We believe in the educational component," said Bartlett.

We find it quite touching that one Air Force veteran at the Home, Lawrence Eeftink, lit up as he held the B-17, the same type of plane he flew as a service member.

Such a project may seem like a small thing to some, but consider this: Honor Flight Network, an organization committed to flying veterans to visit war memorials in Washington, D.C., reports on honorflight.org that "of all of the wars in recent memory, it was World War II that truly threatened our very existence as a nation -- and as a culturally diverse, free society. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, an estimated 640 World War II veterans die each day. Our time to express our thanks to these brave men and women is running out."

This collaboration, therefore, by Southeast Correctional Center and Southeast Missouri State University is not only a kind gesture, but a timely one, as well.