MINOT, N.D. - Jason Brown arrived in Minot, N.D., to his first disaster recovery operation, not knowing fully what to expect. However, his experience in the recovery efforts surrounding flooding in communities impacted by the Souris River when it overtopped its banks in June and July 2011 has created the opportunity to add another recovery mission as well. This added responsibility is to collect American flags he finds among the debris in the recovery mission he’s overseeing.
“You go through some of these neighborhoods where families have lost so much,” Brown described. “Then you see a house that’s equally devastated but they (the owners) made sure to get their flag up. They’re very resilient.”
Brown, who normally works as a construction representative with the Army Corps’ Rock Island District, arrived in Minot on July 17, 2011, to serve as one of the Corps’ quality assurance supervisor, overseeing the removal of flood debris in these north-central North Dakota communities. Although this is his first such deployment with the Corps of Engineers, but he’s had other service with another Corps, the U.S. Marine Corps.
He served prior to the events of Sept. 11, 2001, but said that serving the country, being a patriot and taking care of the flag are values he holds high. He attributes his drive to collect the flags to his these values and and family.
“I came from a family that’s always been proud of our country and proud and willing to serve in our military,” Brown described. “These experiences have taught me the value of what this flag means and what it stands for.”
His collection grows with every passing day, and as of Aug. 11, he’s collected or received more than 50 flags. The word has gotten out about Brown’s mission. Not just throughout the Corps of Engineers cadre working the flood recovery efforts, but also among the debris removal contractors.
“I’ve had a couple instances where, at the end of the day, one of our other QA guys will come up and give me a flag that he recovered or one of the contractors gave to him to pass on to me,” Brown explained. “It really means something to me that they’ve taken on this mission as well.”
After a little more than three years in the Marines, Brown received an honorable discharge for an injury he sustained on the job. Upon leaving the Marine Corps, he worked as a project manager for a project management contracting company. In September 2009, he joined the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Rock Island District, working out of their Peoria, Ill., office.