Knob Noster High School student Jackson Wheeler has lived in the town most of his life. On this day, he – and a large number of his neighbors – are attending the girls basketball district championship game, where Knob Noster is playing a close game against 26-1 Oak Grove High.
"Our community is really great. I know it's super small, but they show up, and that's what it's all about," Wheeler said.
But only nine minutes away from the high school sits Whiteman Air Force Base, the home to the country’s B-2 stealth bombers. These planes can fly thousands of miles to drop heavy bombs other planes can’t carry, making them key to the U.S.’s Iran war effort.
Perry Byerly has been the Mayor of Knob Noster since August. Originally from Los Angeles, Byerly came to Knob Noster in 1990 to work at Whiteman, only three years before the original B-2s were introduced. H e retired as computer manager for maintenance squadron in 2000.
"Whiteman is, more or less, an extension [of the community]," Byerly said. "The only thing that defines it to me, having lived here this long, is there's a fence separating it.
Sometimes, he says, a mission may require soldiers to do something controversial. Byerly said that makes it important for residents to focus more on community and less on political ideology.
"They're all out there doing this same thing to support a mission, and I think that's what we are as a public and as the community, that's how we support the mission, just by supporting the folks that are on the base," he said.
As such, the community has a number of places that support veterans, such as the local AMVETS hall.
Steak night brings dozens of patrons; chatter fills the room, pucks skitter across a shuffle board table. The walls are adorned by military tributes and air force art. The smell of fried okra and beer linger from behind the bar, where a 15x6-foot model of a B-2 flies, decked out with neon lights.
Royce Moore is the Commander of Knob Noster’s AMVETS location. He and his wife, Cora, fixed planes at Whiteman until 2008. Since then, they’ve stayed close to the military community through volunteering.
"If you join the military, it doesn't matter what job you had, if your army, marine, navy. Y'all are in the same club, and you all know that," Moore said.
The majority of this town of 3,000 are connected to the base in some way. And on this day, they’re connected to the girls basketball team, which takes Oak Grove to overtime.
School district Superintendent Jared Wheeler stands on the sidelines. He said 70% of the students have a parent who does or did serve at the base. But Wheeler sees military service and education as two different kinds of missions.
"Our goal here in Knob Noster is that when our service members are out taking care of our nation's business, the last thing we want on their mind is whether or not their children are getting a good education," Wheeler said.
When the clock runs out…Knob Noster loses and the team's season ends.
In this small town basketball game, the Oak Grove Panthers have beaten the Knob Noster Panthers. One team in black and orange, the other in orange and white. Similar names, similar colors, similar goals — a lot like the two sides in the war being fought both down the road and thousands of miles away.
