Photo By Aimee Malone | Military police and Capt. Jamie Horton, a Soldier stationed at Fort McCoy for Task...... read more read more
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On Jan. 20, a unique flag flew over the installation at Fort McCoy.
The flag belonged to Capt. Jamie Horton, who was temporarily stationed at Fort McCoy for the Operation Allies Welcome (OAW) mission. In 2002, when Horton was still a sergeant, he was deployed with a civil-affairs unit to Kabul, Afghanistan. He purchased a U.S. flag and asked to have it flown above the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan.
“I flew the flag in Afghanistan back in the summer of 2002 so that it would be a reminder of my time there,” Horton said.
Horton returned home with his flag, which was displayed on a bookshelf at his home for almost 20 years.
“I had never imagined the flag would ever be flown again, but the opportunity presented itself,” Horton said. “It’s almost as if the stars aligned just right that I was in Afghanistan in year one with the people of Afghanistan supporting our efforts there, and that I would be here in Fort McCoy 20 years later supporting those who supported us for all of those years.”
When he found out he was going to be sent to Fort McCoy for the OAW mission, Horton decided to bring his flag along with him. On Jan. 20, military police and Directorate of Emergency Services personnel, along with Horton, raised the flag over garrison headquarters at Fort McCoy.
Horton said he wanted to fly the flag to symbolically close out his Afghanistan mission and that he hoped it would serve as a symbol.
“I truly believed in this mission and can only hope that I had some sort of a positive impact on those Afghan guests beginning a new and better life here in America,” Horton said.
For more information about OAW, visit https://www.dvidshub.net/tags/news/operation-allies-welcome.
| Date Taken: | 02.09.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 02.09.2022 16:46 |
| Story ID: | 414372 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, US |
| Web Views: | 36 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, U.S. flag flies over Afghanistan, Fort McCoy, by Aimee Malone, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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