By Beth N. Gray, Times Correspondent
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Paige Young, 6, and mom Jennifer Jackson look at a flag for Army veteran James Young, Paige’s grandfather, on Thursday.
BROOKSVILLE — The 576 U.S. flags fluttering in rows Thursday on the grounds of Chocachatti Elementary School created a stirring Veterans Day tableau.
The salute and accompanying ceremony, by We Remember 27-H-1, attracted only a handful of spectators, but all were there with a purpose.
Before and after the brief service, mothers, wives and children walked and peered among the flags — most flagstaffs bearing the name of a veteran — seeking their own.
Among the purposeful was 6-year-old Paige Young.
"I found it," she said, her hair dancing in the breeze, as she pointed to a flag among the maze with the name of her grandfather, James Young.
Young was an Army veteran who died recently at the age of 62.
Following her daughter among the rows of flags, Paige's mother, Jennifer Jackson of Brooksville, said, "I'm trying to teach her to respect veterans."
The speaker for the ceremony, Sheriff and U.S. Rep.-elect Richard Nugent, made families like Young's the focus of his comments.
"What legacy are we going to see? So many kids put their lives at risk, also their families. So many have given their all," said Nugent, who has two sons enrolled in military academies.
During his introduction, event organizer Bob Muehlbauer, wearing a T-shirt proclaiming "Proud to be an AMERICAN," said the flags will remain at Chocachatti until Monday.
Then they will be distributed to various veterans organizations for their own deployment.
Beth Gray can be contacted at graybethn@earthlink.net.