I always enjoy a good story about my dad’s adventures of when he was in the military. 

Stories of meeting his possible team members during training. The struggles and success they went through…together. And the knowledge he has gained. 

The scary parts, the funny parts. The knowledge about how a piece of equipment works. It’s amazing! And yes, there is still a lot that hasn’t been told to me yet. He calls it “top secret”, because we don’t want some information accidentally getting to the wrong person. 

He had to work hard to be a part of the 82nd. He was not perfect but had the honor of working with such great people, and he quickly worked his way to being a role model and leader for new members of the team. He told me. 

But my favorite piece of information that he gave me was one he learned back in training.  

He told me that if the flag hits the ground, he or anyone that is a soldier of the United States of America should not leave the flag behind.  He even said that if a U.S. flag is torn up and dirty, he or his team members that find the flag is responsible to separate the stars and stripes. The reason for this is so our enemy, whoever they may be, can not fly our flag. Respect would be lost. 

This is very important for all branches of the U.S. military. 

The flag to me, based on the stories my father has told me, stands for honor, respect, struggle and success.  Honor to fight for our families freedom. To protect those that can’t protect themselves. Respect for those that fought before us. That gave their lives for others. Struggle of America's past mistakes. The hard work our soldiers go through. Success of world changing, history making wars. That others thought not possible.