The Honor Flight is a great honor. My nephew is an Army Ranger and parachuted into Normandy a few years ago on an Honor Flight.
Thank you for your service.
You photo is a little rough, but I tried to render it as best I could. I attached 2 images - the cutable pattern, and a suggestion for adding some color to the plaque. I've used a light watercolor wash and it has a transparent color that lets the wood show through. It takes almost no watercolor paint to get a strong color on Birch.
I'd like to see your work when it's complete. Please post on this site.