This year's Indianola Academy observance of Veterans Day was highlighted by a special tribute to a local soldier, Captain Walter Sparks, a World War II fighter pilot with roots in Inverness, and his great nephew Alan Jones of Inverness delivered the tribute.
Jones told the students that he was first introduced to Sparks indirectly at a very early age through a nearly life-size portrait that hung in his grandmother's living room, who is Sparks’ sister.
He said even though he didn’t know him at the time, he was drawn to the photo. "I just knew he was a tall military man and I didn't even know I was related to him,” Jones said.
He eventually came to know the man in the portrait as Great-uncle Walter. “I was always kind of amazed that I had someone like that in my family,” Jones said. As he grew older, his adoration for that photo also increased. He expressed that he did not even understand the story of his uncle’s service at that point. "But when I found out that man was related to me, I was very, very proud," Jones said.
He said that flying was Sparks’ passion from the very beginning and he loved anything that had to do with aviation. He also wanted to serve his country, so he followed a path that allowed him to do both. According to Jones, Sparks started flying as soon as he finished college.
Reading from several excerpts from published newspaper articles and referencing a book by W. L. White entitled Queens Die Proudly, Jones presented his great-uncle’s life, legacy and heroism to the attentive IA students.
After joining the military and while on a mission just over a month after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, he and three other men were on a plane that was shot down over the Pacific Ocean. He described the account of the incident from the viewpoint of the navigator and concluded, “In memory of Walter, thank you.”
The program also featured several students including Sarah Frances Downs, Anna Grace Rowland, Spencer Roberson, Lizzy Smith, John Luther Selby, Carolyn Kelley and Jillian Roberts.
The Indianola Academy sixth graders, under the direction of John Andy Bowen and Ruth Carmen Poindexter, presented a service medley.
And others program participants included Andy Daniels, Guy Burke, Taylor Buchanan and Headmaster Charles Mason and Principal Clete Putnam. Robert Sledge played Taps as part of the tribute.
A reception for the veterans and their families was held immediately following the program.
