Residents joined high school students from throughout Glendale recently in donating “comfort items” to support Luke Air Force Base troops deployed overseas during the holidays

.All of the items collected during the drive, which was organized by the Mayor’s Youth Advisory Commission (MYAC), were donated to Operation Thunderbox, a local non-profit, volunteer-led initiative that sends basic personal hygiene items and non-perishable food to active-duty Luke personnel overseas. More than 300 men and women from Luke will be deployed outside the United States during the upcoming holiday season.

“The MYAC members want to let our Luke personnel know that regardless of where they may be stationed around the world, the Glendale community is thinking about them during the holidays,” says Glendale Mayor Elaine Scruggs.

“Last year, MYAC helped local senior citizens in need and now they want to rally around our troops. These high school students are an unbelievable group of caring young adults who truly want to make a positive impact in our city.”

Apollo, Arizona Lutheran, Bourgade, Cactus, Deer Valley, Glendale, Goldwater, Independence, Ironwood, Mountain Ridge, North Canyon, Westview and Northwest Christian high schools are all participating in the drive. All of the 50 members of MYAC are high school students living in Glendale.

More than 6,000 items were collected by the teens on school campuses and at Glendale City Hall. The items will be sent to Luke men and women deployed overseas this holiday season. In addition to the 6,000 comfort items, MYAC also collected more than $200 to help with postage and more than 400 letters to be included in the soldier's Thunderbox.

History of the coin:

During World War 1, American volunteers from all parts of the country filled the newly formed flying squadrons. Some were wealthy scions attending colleges such as Yale and Harvard who quit in mid-term to join the war. In one squadron, a wealthy lieutenant ordered medallions struck in solid bronze and presented them to his unit. One young pilot placed the medallion in a small leather pouch that he wore about his neck.

Shortly after acquiring the medallions, the pilot's aircraft was severely damaged by ground fire.

He was forced to land behind enemy lines and was immediately captured by a German patrol. In order to discourage his escape, the Germans took all of his personal identification except for the small leather pouch around his neck. In the meantime, he was taken to a small French town near the front. Taking advantage of a bombardment that night, he escaped. However, he was without personal identification.

He succeeded in avoiding German patrols by donning civilian attire and reached the front lines. With great difficulty, he crossed no-man's land. Eventually, he stumbled onto a French outpost. Unfortunately, saboteurs had plagued the French in the sector. They sometimes masqueraded as civilians and wore civilian clothes. Not recognizing the young pilot's American accent, the French thought him to be a saboteur and made ready to execute him. He had no identification to prove his allegiance, but he did have his leather pouch containing the medallion. He showed the medallion to his would-be executioners and one of his French captors recognized the squadron insignia on the medallion. They delayed his execution long enough for him to confirm his identity. Instead of shooting him they gave him a bottle of wine.