By GAYLE WEBER

gweber@dailynews.net

BAZINE -- Six students at Western Plains High School are just good kids doing a good deed, according to their teacher, Debbie Hagans.

The group of junior boys from Hagans' government class are raising money to be able to take six western Kansas World War II veterans on an Honor Flight to Washington on April 20.

The group, with help from their mothers, gathered Sunday at the Bazine Grade School to finish filling orders for 725 bierocks as part of a fundraiser for the trip.

Although the boys were begging for extra credit for all the work they put in Sunday, junior Kyle Grose knows it's not that big of a deal.

"It seems like the least we could do after what they've done for our country," Grose said.

The group, along with its six veterans from Utica, Ness City and Dodge City, will travel to LeRoy on April 20 to meet a group of Southern Coffey County High School students and eastern Kansas veterans before departing April 21 for a two-day tour of Washington.

"Most of those Honor Flights are just one day, but ours is a two-day one," Hagans said. "It's a little easier on the veterans."

They will visit Arlington National Cemetery, the Iwo Jima memorial as well as the World War II, Vietnam and Korean war memorials.

"It's a great opportunity to tour Washington, D.C.," junior Eric Dysinger said. "I pretty much did it for the veterans though. It's all about the vets."

Junior Brannon Kraft has family in the military and always has been interested in war history, so volunteering to go on the trip was obvious for him.

"I'd really like to see the look on the veterans' faces when they see some of the stuff," Kraft said.

The plane ride to Washington is the exciting part for Grose.

"It'll be interesting to be on the plane with them to hear their stories and what they actually did," Grose said.

But the plane ride will be the biggest obstacle for most of the group.

"I've never flown on a plane ... and that's probably our biggest fear," Dysinger said.

Hagans said the six boys who volunteered for the trip have stuck with it, never wavering about their commitment to the project.

The group is hoping to raise $4,000 for the trip. Hagans already has signed the boys up to serve and clean up during the Ransom VFW Easter dinner April 12.

According to Grose, the most important outcome of the trip will be the learning experience.

"Maybe stuff we don't get taught in our history books, but what they actually have learned and what they can tell us about it," Grose said.

Those attending the Honor Flight are:

from Western Plains High School:

Shane Corsair

Eric Dysinger

Kyle Grose

Brannon Kraft

Dustin Luetters

Cody Smith

Veterans:

Delbert Babcock, Utica

Carroll Cheney, Utica

Bryant Finch, Dodge City

Cecil Jones, Utica

Paul Wasinger, Ness City

Wilbur Wasinger, Ness City