Week
of
September 11, 2002
Inside the Register
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Webelos' pocket-flag project reaches around the world
Scouts' post-Sept. 11 project sends flags, prayers to soldiers
By Jack Bacon
Marine
Cpl. Andrew P. Lane assured the boys in Webelos Den 7 the pocket-size
flags they fold and pack in plastic baggies were a big hit with the Marines
and sailors on duty in a three-ship battle group that sent war planes
into combat in Afghanistan.
The gifts are "awesome," Lane told the den at its meeting in Sts. Peter and Paul School Aug. 29.
He said he distributed the flags on his ship, the Bonhomme Richard, and two others in the group that launched planes and helicopters from the Arabian Sea to attack Taliban forces — 2,000 flags altogether.
Den leader LuWanda Ford, who serves the fifth-graders with her husband, Leonard, said the pocket-flag project has spread widely and that Scouts and volunteers in an array of organizations, from a large Denver law firm to an embroidery group, in 39 states are engaged in it now.
Each 7- by 12-inch flag is folded into a triangle measuring 2 by 2 by 3 inches and is inserted into a self-closing plastic bag with a card reading: "A flag for your pocket so you can always carry a little bit of home. We are praying for you and are proud of you. Thank you for defending our country and our freedom." The message is signed with the name of the organization, in this case Webelos Den 7 of Cub Pack 402.
Lane, son of Jerald and Sharen Lane of Westminster, brought his message of thanks to the den, but it wasn't the first. LuWanda Ford has a collection of letters and e-mails from troops expressing gratitude for the flags and the home support they signify.
Lane also had written to the den in January to thank the boys for the flags. "They are a real morale booster," he wrote. "... It's a constant reminder of what we're doing out here." He added in the letter that he wanted to visit the den on his next trip home.
Army Spec. Gabriel Valdez of Fort Sill, Okla., collected 200 flags to take to a U.S. base in Kuwait.
The Fords launched the flag project last year, and the boys still dedicate part of their time to the project. LuWanda's sister, Betty Brummer of Albuquerque, N.M., an employee of Kirtland Air Force Base, also participates, supplying flags to airmen there and servicemen at other military stations.
The den also got a message from a master sergeant at Holloman Air Force Base, N.M., who sent a picture of the interior of a cargo plane displaying one of the pocket flags hanging beside a 4- by 6-foot flag. The sergeant sent the den a coin commemorating that operation over Afghanistan.
Ford said the flags are ordered from the General Fabrics Co. They're printed on large strips the boys and other volunteers cut into individual flags for folding, and don't require hemming. Talks with the supplier enabled her to get them at a substantial discount. The most recent shipment, she said, swelled her inventory to enough material for 50,000 flags.
Members of the den hanging on Lane's every word were Josh Marquez, Leighton Lautenschlager, Taylor Spencer, Dan McKee, Luke Morosco and Charley Ford, the Fords' son. They had questions afterward, from "Do you carry a pistol?" (Answer: Only officers, helicopter pilots and crew chiefs do) to "Do you spit on your shoes to shine them?" (Answer: "Not on these, just on my combat boots).
Lane, an airframe and hydraulics technician, expects to wind up his four-year hitch in 10 months, and is testing to join the Contra Costa, Calif., Sheriff's Department. He's a graduate of Quest Academy and Nativity of Our Lord School in Broomfield.