For many, retirement means a chance to kick back a spell, maybe take up gardening or some idle hobby. Kenny Mintz has taken a different approach. Mintz, who retired last summer as a 30-year Army…

As the nation prepares to celebrate Independence Day, a military band filled the air with music at the Allen County Farmers Market on Thursday. It was a festive atmosphere, with patriotic tunes as well as…

TOPEKA — When retired U.S. Army Col. Lynn Rolf enlisted and went to war, the federal government made a promise it would take care of his medical needs. Rolf, who began his 31 years of…

Dr. Dwight Blackwood smiled nonstop on Thursday afternoon during a flight in a Douglas AC-47 Spooky, a plane owned by the American Flight Museum in Topeka. “Isn’t this something?” he said. “This brings back a…

“I came here to see a plane I haven’t seen in 50 years,” Ron Smith said, smiling as he made his way across the concrete apron of the Allen County Regional Airport. His target: Naked…

How many monuments are in Washington, D.C.? Gary Hoffmeier’s trivia question typically elicits a number of responses. 10? 20? 50? “Nope,” he replies. “There’s only one. The rest are memorials.” Indeed, the iconic Washington Monument…

Lincoln Elementary School third- and fourth-graders gave an enthusiastic tribute to patriotism with their winter program Thursday, titled “We Honor Our Veterans.” The students regaled a packed Bowlus Fine Arts Center crowd with an assortment…

Air Force Maj. Tyner Apt-Hill, an Iola High graduate who attended the U.S. Air Force Academy, delivers the keynote address during Saturday’s Veterans Day ceremony in downtown Iola. Apt-Hill talked about how her experiences growing…

Iola cemeteries were festooned with flags this weekend, in preparation for Veterans Day on Thursday. The Iola Boy Scouts and local 4-Hers gathered to place flags on veterans’ graves Saturday morning at Highland Cemetery, as…

Three Iolans will participate in an upcoming Honor Flight sponsored by Southern Coffey County High School, in which veterans are taken on a two-day trip to see various memorials at Washington, D.C. Iolans Larry Crawford,…