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  • Stars and stripes: Hundreds of volunteers helped install Flags to honor fallen soldier Spc. Arronn Fields Sunday afternoon on state Route 340 near the Clearview Cemetery. .

    MET 060312 STARS & STRIPES.jpg

  • Comments: Tina Price of Brazil talks with Tribune-Star reporter Arthur Foulkes during Sunday's event at Northview High School.

    MET 060312 FLAG COMMENTS.jpg

  • Volunteers: Several volunteers carry flags along south Route 340 in Clay County preparing for the funeral of Spc. Arronn Fields Sunday afternoon.

    MET 060312 FLAG BEARER.jpg

  • Prepared: A group of Boy Scouts and volunteers install a line of flags inside the Clearview Cemetery in Clay County where Spc. Arronn Fields will be laid to rest Tuesday.

    MET 060312 BEING PREPARED.jpg

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June 4, 2012

Solemn preparations: Volunteers set out hundreds of flags to honor fallen soldier

Arthur Foulkes The Tribune-Star

BRAZIL — Honoring one of their own, several hundred volunteers showed up Sunday to place tall American flags along the Clay County funeral route to be used for Indiana National Guard Spc. Arronn Fields, who died in the line of duty last month in Afghanistan.

Approximately 300 people met in the parking lot of Northview High School, from which Fields graduated in 2003. Their goal was to plant a three-by-five foot flag every seven yards on both sides of the roadway between Clearview Cemetery and the Brazil Church of the Nazarene on East National Avenue.

Approximately 2,000 flags would be needed to cover the distance, measuring nearly four miles.

The flags were provided by Larry “The Flag Man” Eckhardt, an Illinois man who has helped honor fallen troops all across the country with similar tributes. About two weeks ago, Eckhardt conducted a similar tribute to Airman John Bradshaw of Red Bud, Ill.

“I love the young people being out here,” Eckhardt said, speaking from the bed of a pickup truck in the Northview parking lot a little past 2 p.m. Sunday. He called the large group of volunteers at the high school, “citizen heroes.” He also called for a round of applause for military veterans volunteering their time.

After receiving instructions from Eckhardt, teams of volunteers accompanied pickup trucks loaded with hundreds of flags set out in both directions. The first group went to Clearview Cemetery just to the west of the high school to begin placing the flags in the ground every seven yards.

“My dad was a World War II veteran and we were taught to respect our veterans and this young man obviously gave the ultimate price,” said Tina Price of Brazil, who was helping place flags along the busy funeral route with her daughter, Dayton. “I can’t imagine the loss.”

While large teams of people carried flags, smaller groups used iron bars and sledge hammers to create nine-inch-deep holes in the ground next to the roadway. Eckhardt instructed the volunteers to watch out for traffic and be certain the flags do not obstruct traffic signs or signals.

The volunteers worked quickly, placing flags from the entrance of Clearview Cemetery to a point more than 100 yards away in just a matter of minutes. In most cases it took volunteers, such as Claudia Delude or Chris Nichols, about 10 whacks of the sledge hammer to create the hole for each flag.

Eckhardt asked volunteers to meet at the Northview parking lot about two hours after the Tuesday services are completed to help collect the flags.

“I didn’t know the young man but I feel like I needed to be here,” said Jane Douglas of Clay County, who was volunteering along with Lori Hutcheson, who said Fields graduated from Northview with her oldest son.

“Patriotism,” said Karen Galloway of Clay County when asked what lead her to volunteer her Sunday afternoon to help plant flags for Spc. Fields. Galloway, a member of the Army National Guard, has been deployed to Iraq and said she also wanted to show her support to a fellow service member. “He protected our freedom,” she said.

Fields, 27, of Knightsville was deployed in January with the 381st Military Police Company, 81st Troop Command as part of Task Force Guardian, a multi-unit military police force from Indiana.

Fields succumbed to injuries suffered during a rocket-propelled grenade attack on May 21 in Qal-ah-ye Mirza Jal, Afghanistan, while conducting a patrol.

He enlisted in the Indiana National Guard in 2006 and was a 2003 graduate of Northview High School.

Visitation for Spc. Fields will take place from 2 to 8 p.m. Monday at Moore Funeral Home, 142 N. Washington St. in Brazil. Funeral services will be 11 a.m. Tuesday at the Church of the Nazarene, 1102 E. National Ave., Brazil. Burial will take place at Clearview Cemetery with full military honors.



Reporter Arthur Foulkes can be reached at (812) 231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@tribstar.com.

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