VETERAN SALUTE: Keeping soldiers skybound

TOPEKA (KSNT) – Topeka native Michiko Snell served through both Desert Shield and Desert Storm by keeping flight crews up to date and prepared for worldwide flight operations.

At schools across Topeka, you’ll find Snell playing the day away. She’s a traveling string teacher, sharing her love for music with students across the city.

“It gives kids a way to express themselves,” Snell said,” Because some kids are not athletes and some kids are not scholars, but they have a voice and if they find it in music it’s really a great thing. It makes them a better person. It makes them more empathetic to the world around them.”

Snell had enrolled for fall classes to begin her journey of music education when news hit of her deployment for Desert Shield.

“I wasn’t sure what to expect cause we’d seen CNN,” Snell said. “We didn’t know. Of course at that time we couldn’t say where we were, what we were doing. I was 27. It was a little frightening because it was an unknown situation.” 

Overseas, Snell held the job of crew control, acting as a bridge between soldiers and command center. Working flight management, she kept track of takeoffs, landings and everything in between.

“I ended up having one of those big huge radios that you’d see on the old TV shows with the Army guys on their little phone radio things,” Snell said. “I had one of those in my office. They’d call me from the base and tell me, ‘So and so’s flight crew needed to be on the crew bus at 4:30 in the morning.'”

Though her time overseas wasn’t exactly planned, Snell reflects fondly on her time in the service.

“I think a lot of people are afraid of the military and they shouldn’t be,” Snell said. “It’s a great organization and people should follow their hearts. Sometimes by following your heart, you find your calling later on.” 

Today, Snell is celebrating more than three decades of teaching music in the Capital City.