“Small flag, huge meaning” Carol Megathlin

Something uplifting for you, courtesy of Savannah writer, Carol Megathlin.

It’s the story of a small US flag, transferred into the hands of a SC soldier deployed to Iraq, and it’s return home… with the soldier. Per Carol, now in possession of that flag, it’s worn and weary from the experiences… much like that young soldier. But, like that soldier, that flag is a cherished possession.

Read, and be of good cheer and pride in America’s finest…. our military.

On the wall next to my computer hangs a small American flag. It is tattered and dirty, but there is no way I will ever part with this little flag.

It was put into my hands on July 1, 2008, by First Sergeant Jovito Casanova as I stood at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah. I was there to welcome home 3rd Infantry Division troops returning from Iraq.

As he handed me the flag, I gave him my email address and asked him to tell me its story. Only recently was he willing to talk about his 14 months in one of the most dangerous places in Iraq. Here is the story he recounted in an email.

“It was late in the night when we were loading the aircraft out of Hunter Army Airfield and I noticed up ahead there were a handful of volunteers handing out small American flags. I remember feeling how nice it was to have them come to see us off when it felt we were the only ones who knew we were leaving.

“I grabbed a flag from an older gentleman. I could barely fit it in my pack and I didn’t think it would make the flight without breaking.

“We eventually arrived in Iraq. After initial in-processing into country we moved by rotary aircraft to Forward Operating Base Falcon. We lived in large tents that accommodated roughly 20 soldiers.

“The flag I received was stuffed into my assault pack and I remember looking at the flag, surprised that it had survived the loading and unloading of bags and equipment so far. I looked around the tent and I noticed a few other flags sticking out of corners of tents and tops of rucksacks. Mine found a place above my head held up by a piece of thin green lanyard.

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