Photo by Will Hightower.
Stephen Ray, left, owner of Ray Building Company in Mountain Brook, is teaming up with Barry Franks of Over the Mountain Aviation to host Wings for Warriors this month.
In some ways, Stephen Ray is an ordinary guy. He lives in Mountain Brook. He hates traffic. He is involved in the construction business.
But in other ways – most, in fact – Ray breaks the norm. He left Mountain Brook for 19 years to serve as a U.S. Marine. His solution to escape traffic is to hop in a plane and fly over it. And his service to this community extends far beyond building houses.
Ray, owner of Ray Building Company, is preparing to host an event dubbed Wings for Warriors that will allow wounded veterans and their families to learn about flying planes and ride with flight instructors at the Shelby County Airport. The event, which is scheduled for Sept. 7, is modeled after other Wings for Warriors events across the country.
“First and foremost we want to give veterans and their families a recreational outlet,” Ray said. “Get everybody’s mind off the day-to-day grind. We want to increase awareness and break down any stigma over the disabilities.”
Ray’s inspiration to help wounded veterans stems from his experiences as a U.S. Marine from 1981-2000, including fighting in Desert Storm. After finishing his career in the military, Ray started working in construction and serving as a part-time flight instructor at the Shelby County Airport.
In 2009, Ray came across an ad for Homes for Our Troops in a builder’s magazine he was flipping through. Homes for Our Troops is a nonprofit organization that builds specially adapted homes for severely disabled Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans.
“When I saw that ad, it sparked deeply buried personal emotions of mine from my experiences in Desert Storm as a Marine Armor Officer,” Ray said. “It spurred me to start looking for ways to help.”
After connecting with Bart Fletcher, a senior officer of the Greater Birmingham Association of Home Builders, through their mutual friend Gary Palmer, president of the Alabama Policy Institute, Ray found his way to get involved.
Ray’s company became the primary builder for a Trussville couple, veteran Scot Noss and his wife RyAnne. Through Homes for Our Troops, Ray built a house specially designed to ease Noss’ daily struggle with disability.
“Building that house for RyAnne and her husband showed me that there are a ton of people here in Birmingham who are willing to give back to our veterans,” Ray said. “Patriotism and Christianity are strong in this area and make it a great place for these kinds of programs to thrive.”
The Wings for Warriors program came about as a result of Ray’s friendship with Barry Franks, who is one of the owners of the Shelby County Airport Flight School.
“Steve brought this to my attention a few months ago,” Franks said. “We’re more than happy to accommodate the veterans on that day. We will feed them, orientate them on flying, and then get them in the plane and up in the air.”
Franks and Ray anticipate the biggest challenge for the event to be getting the wounded veterans into and out of aircraft, as small aicraft like those at OTM Aviation aren’t designed to be handicapped-accessible.
“But we’ve done that before,” Ray said. “One of our flight students was paralyzed from the waist down, and we would hoist him up into the aircraft. We don’t have anything special – it’s just us lifting him. It’s fairly unsophisticated.”
Many local businesses have agreed to pitch in financial support for Ray’s Wings for Warriors event, including some corporate leaders in the areas who are pilots themselves.
“We have received tons of support, and they are all silent leaders,” Ray said. “They’re not looking for recognition.”
Stephen Ray’s service to the wounded warriors in the Birmingham community is far from normal. As he and others put on Wings for Warriors this fall, he knows that simply providing a memorable afternoon in a plane is a contribution that wounded veterans will greatly appreciate.
“I count every day as sensitive and precious to me because I know it’s fleeting,” Ray said. “This event is something that these veterans and their families will be able to remember forever.”
