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Flags of Honor escorts
Volunteers are traveling across the state to honor Gold Star families and their miles on the road are paying off. FOX 13’s Craig Patrick reports.
TAMPA, Fla. - Before U.S. Marines could famously raise the American flag over Iwo Jima, they had to clear a heavily fortified path.
Hershel "Woody" Williams blasted through enemy bunkers with a flamethrower, earning the Medal of Honor and becoming a World War II legend.
But as the decades passed, Williams was haunted by what the nation left behind.
The backstory:
After returning home, Williams served as a casualty notification officer, driving to homes to deliver Western Union telegrams informing families that their loved ones had been killed in action.
Before his death in 2022, Williams realized that a telegram was a wholly inadequate way to recognize a family whose hero had sacrificed everything.
This realization sparked a national movement to build permanent monuments to Gold Star families.
Today, there are more than 150 of these monuments across all 50 states.
Tribute across Florida
Taking up Williams' mission, a group known as the Flags of Honor Escorts has been riding through Florida for the past five years.
Led by volunteers like David McElroy, William Cox, and Golda Trantham, the group travels the state to maintain the monuments they helped build, host memorial ceremonies and raise funds for future sites.
"Our Gold Star families are everything," Trantham said.
The funding relies on a patchwork of grassroots efforts.
Trantham noted the group hosts fundraisers, writes letters to corporations seeking grants, and even collects donations from local schoolchildren.
Local perspective:
This ongoing mission frequently brings the group to the Bay Area, which now hosts three of the state's Gold Star monuments.
One of their most frequent stops — and reportedly one of Woody Williams' personal favorites — is located at Franklin Boys Preparatory Academy in Tampa. Students at the academy literally chipped in their dimes to help cover the construction costs.
For Gold Star families in the region, the physical monuments and the escorts' visits provide profound emotional relief.
Robert Lehmiller, a Gold Star father who joined the escorts at the Franklin Boys Prep monument, lost his son Michael in Afghanistan more than 20 years ago.
"Once on the battlefield and once when you no longer remember them... It does your heart good," Lehmiller said. "You know their service is not going to be forgotten and that the young generation coming up knows what sacrifice is all about."
Why you should care:
The mission of the Flags of Honor Escorts extends beyond those who died in combat; it is also a lifeline for those who survived but have been left behind by society.
Between monument visits, the escorts make it a priority to visit state-run Florida veterans’ homes.
"We shake hands, and we get down on our knees, and we talk to the veterans, and some have not had visitors in years," David McElroy said. "They don't have family left. They don’t have children. So, when they meet someone who gives them some attention, it just completely changes their mindset."
According to McElroy and Cox, many of the elderly veterans living in these facilities have outlived their families and have not had a single visitor in years.
The escorts sit with them, shake their hands and listen to their stories. These simple interactions of gratitude and companionship can completely alter the mindset and mental health of an isolated veteran.
Big picture view:
Furthermore, the volunteers serve as a living example of alternative public service.
William Cox, who was born missing most of his left hand, was medically disqualified from enlisting in the armed forces.
"I was born missing most of my left hand," William Cox tells students. "Put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything you want. Don’t let anybody, anyone say otherwise."
Instead of giving up, he found a different way to serve his country by joining the escorts, using his story to inspire the next generation of students they meet along the road.
By the numbers:
- 150+: The number of Gold Star family monuments built across all 50 states as part of the national movement.
- 9: The current number of Gold Star monuments in Florida, up from six when the Flags of Honor Escorts began their mission five years ago.
- 3: The number of monuments located specifically in the Tampa Bay area.
- 20+: The number of years since Robert Lehmiller's son, Michael, was killed in action in Afghanistan.
What's next:
With nine monuments successfully erected and maintained across Florida, the Flags of Honor Escorts are continuing their fundraising and outreach efforts.
The group is currently working to secure funding and approval to build a fourth Tampa Bay-area monument, which will be in Pasco County.
The Source: This report is based on a feature story by FOX 13 Chief Investigator Craig Patrick. The information stems from direct, on-location interviews with Flags of Honor Escort riders David McElroy, William Cox, and Golda Trantham, as well as Gold Star Father Robert Lehmiller. Historical context regarding Hershel "Woody" Williams is drawn from his military service record at Iwo Jima and his subsequent foundation work for Gold Star families.