United States Honor Flag tours country in memory
of first responders
Humble Police Officer Tommy Hastings, Detective
Domingo Villarreal and Officer Tony Taylor presented the United
States Honor Flag at Second Baptist Church November 2.
By
STEFANIE THOMAS
Updated:
12.05.09
Humble Observer
Surrounded by a police escort in
all its travels, the United States Honor Flag receives the sort
of protection a high-ranking government official might warrant.
“Every time the Flag moves it’s a logistically daunting task,”
said Honor Network president and co-founder, Chris Heisler, of
Humble. “It’s always carried with law enforcement security;
there are microchips embedded in the seam of the flag; the case
can be tracked; it flies in the cockpit with the pilot; whenever
the plane lands it gets a water cannon salute. Every step of the
way, every mile of the flight, is choreographed.”
One Flag. One Nation. All Heroes.
Heisler explained the Flag originally flew over the Texas
State Capitol. It later became the very symbol of patriotism as
it flew over Ground Zero during the 9/11 recovery efforts.
Heisler, who transported the flag from Austin to New York in one
of the largest motorcades the nation had ever seen, said he was
approached by the wife of a New York Port Authority officer,
with the plea to keep the Flag flying and its spirit of
patriotism alive, as a tribute to those who lost their lives in
the infamous terrorist attacks.
Congress
ultimately gifted the Flag to Heisler, who had previously
coordinated numerous police funerals across Texas, and, since
then, it has travelled the country many times over, honoring
fallen police officers, fire fighters and military personnel.
“We didn’t have any idea, any expectation, for the Flag to
evolve into what it has,” Heisler said. “We deal and work with
federal, state and local agencies around the country, political
offices and elected officials, police and fire, on moving the
flag from place to place. My wife and I travel extensively. We
have an office in Austin and Miami, Florida, but we do all the
logistics out of Humble, Texas.”
In the years since 9/11, the Flag has been presented at more
than 1,000 law enforcement and fire fighter funerals and
governmental events.
Two American Airline planes are commissioned to transport the
Flag over long distances. Between travels, the Flag is stored in
a vault at its official home, the Miami Dade Police Department.
A Humbling Task
On Saturday, November 2, the United States Honor Flag
arrived at Bush Intercontinental Airport in Humble, to be
presented to the widow of Precinct 7 Constable’s Deputy David
Joubert, who was killed in a motorcycle accident in the line of
duty while escorting a funeral January 13, 2008, in a ceremony
at Second Baptist Church in Kingwood. The presentation was part
of the church’s effort to honor upstanding members of the
community, including first responders.
Heisler approached the Humble Police Department to arrange an
escort for the Flag. Officers Tommy Hastings, Tony Taylor, and
Detective Domingo Villarreal met the Flag at the airport.
“We didn’t realize at first the significance, but we read up on
it and found out how special it was,” said Villarreal. “It’s a
national treasure. It’s a shame they have to be so protective of
it, that some people will go to such lengths to destroy or
deface the Flag.”
Heisler said in his travels with the Flag, he has encountered
animosities ranging from spitting and protests to vandalism to
his personal vehicle, even law suits.
“There are some groups and individuals who are not very
respectful of our country, our Flag, and we try to ignore them;
they are looking for an emotional response and we refuse to give
it,” Heisler said. “In this country, they at least have the
freedom to protest if they don’t like what we’re doing. In other
countries they wouldn’t have that luxury.”
Villarreal said the Humble Police Department was honored to
provide a temporary home to the Flag inside the vault of its
crime lab. When the time came for the Saturday church service,
Villarreal and his colleagues took the Flag to Second Baptist
Church, lights and siren blaring, while Heisler carried a decoy
case in his own vehicle.
“Typically, when I get involved with agencies, it’s to help with
funerals,” Heisler said. “This time, at Second Baptist, we got
to honor the community heroes who go to work every day without
knowing if they’ll come home.”
Villarreal said the opportunity to touch the Flag - this powerful
symbol of freedom, loss and love for country - touched him
deeply.
“It’s just so special. When I had it in my hands I was
personally shaken, just knowing where it had flown, where it had
been,” he said. “When I presented it to the widow of the fellow
officer who was killed, you could see my hands shaking. It’s
incredible what significance this piece of cloth has.”
Heisler said he recently began collecting the pristine white
gloves worn by officers as they handle the Flag and presenting
them as keepsakes to family members of fallen first responders.
Joubert’s widow was the third such recipient.
“When a police officer is killed in the line of duty and we
bring the Flag, this piece of history, the impact it has on the
families is incredible,” Heisler said. “To see their father,
their mother, their brother, is now part of this history - it’s
a beginning for them. With the gloves, we leave the family with
something special, a piece of the history.”
Heisler said aside from the comfort it brings to the families of
the fallen, the hope and pride it represents, the Flag’s
greatest value is its role as a teaching tool.
“I visit schools and universities, and get the opportunity to
talk with students about what it is our police and fire fighters
are doing every single day,” he said. “I’m not preaching, but
it’s a story about the Flag and what it represents, and the
journey it’s been on. students today have been so desensitized
after 9/11, but when we bring them a piece of history, they can
see it, touch it. To make teenage boys cry - it’s amazing. It’s
an experience those kids never forget. You change a kid, you
change a family.”
The United States Honor Flag’s next stop is near Tacoma,
Washington, where four police officers were assassinated inside
a coffee shop November 29.
