Flags let soldiers overseas know we care

As America's war on terror drags on, it's easy for those who don't have a friend or relative on active military duty to spend less and less time thinking about the men and women who are.

These soldiers are living in a barren, dusty country with very few creature comforts. They are allowed little telephone or e-mail contact with their families. And they never know when the terrorists they're trying to eradicate will stage a sneak attack on them.

And it's all so that there will be less chance for another Sept. 11 and the horror that marked that day.

But Walter and Carol Messmer of Benton, Mo., understand the discomfort, danger and monotony of our military personnel overseas all too well. Walter is an Army veteran of the Vietnam War. Now their daughter, Rebecca Nickell, is a second lieutenant in the Army's 82nd Airborne Division. She's in Afghanistan, not allowed to tell her family where exactly, serving as platoon leader of a supply company.

Rebecca is the fourth generation of her family to serve in a combat zone during wartime.

So it's little wonder that Carol Messmer, a retired home economics teacher in the Sikeston School District and a longtime Army wife and mom, would be the person to start Operation U.S. Flags.

It began with a simple gesture for her husband. She wanted her daughter to fly an American flag at her base overseas and then send it back as a birthday gift. As of last week, the flag still was waving over Rebecca and her fellow soldiers and would remain there until another came to replace it.

The Operation U.S. Flags campaign started with the idea that anyone could send two flags at a time to Afghanistan, one to be presented to a service member and another to be flown and then returned to the sender. But the logistics of flying a large number of flags, keeping them straight, mailing them back and keeping the whole process secure was just too much to worry about during wartime.

Still, sending the flags as a gesture of love and thanks to the soldiers there would mean so much to them, Carol knows. So she's asking everyone to send 3-by-5-foot flags to Operation U.S. Flags, HQ/A 82nd LTF, APO:AE 09355. Senders should include a self-addressed, stamped envelope or postcard. And if anyone has a question, they can call her at (573) 545-3257.

Although she awaits the special flag -- the one that connects her and her daughter -- to return from Afghanistan, there still are plenty of flags flying at the Messmer home. There's another American flag, an 82nd Airborne flag and an Army banner. The Airborne flag and banner are going to stay flying until the military returns from Afghanistan.

All should hope and pray those flags come down soon. It will mean the war is won, and our sons and daughters are home again.