POOLER, Ga. () – A local 84-year-old veteran is honoring America’s heroes with a display, one flag at a time.
As you drive down U.S 80 in Pooler, across from city hall, you may have seen these flags.
“This year, I decided to create a unique event because it’s the 80th anniversary of World War II’s conclusion,” expressed Clyde Watson. “It’s also the 83rd anniversary of the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum.”
He began this initiative in 2008 at the First Baptist Church of Pooler as a tribute to veterans and military personnel who gave their lives for our nation. The display includes over a dozen state flags and all military flags, serving as a tribute to everyone who passes by.
“Everyone loves it,” Watson remarked. “People seem to really appreciate it. In fact, a gentleman called me on Saturday morning to say, ‘Clyde, you’ve done a terrific job up there.'”
He said he contacts the states directly to requests flags or buys them himself when he can.
“I’ve had a couple of get a couple of people give me some money to buy some flags, and the flags are expensive now,” Watson said. “They’re more expensive than they were when we first started and we have about a poll to put them on. So, we’ve had some few donations”
It is a meaningful tradition that he hopes will remind people of the sacrifice behind our freedom.
“It is a personal to me that we’re able to celebrate a free United States because of what those veterans did,” he said.
He said, “…it’s the same thing that Jack Kennedy said, don’t ask what you can what your country can do for you but ask what you can do for your country.”
Watson told his work doesn’t end here.
“We hope to get next year,” he said. “I hope to finally get all of the state flags and maybe even get a soldier’s name, so we can put it on the flag board. that’s my goal.”
Watson says they are always looking for monetary donations to keep this tradition alive, and he is hoping to expand the display by adding more flags to the lineup.
He told that he wants to collect all of the state flags to donate to the Mighty Eighth.
