When I look at an American flag, I see my grandpa, soldiers, and freedom. I see the fallen soldiers and the soldiers here today. I see strength. 

I stand behind the American flag and pledge my allegiance to those who fought for my freedom...the fallen and those still here. I pledge to my grandpa too, of course.

My grandpa was deployed weeks before the end of World War II. He was a seabee--a construction battalion (a sector of the Navy) for building air strips and structures around the world.  He never fought in the war, but nevertheless, he was scared for his life. He once said, “I was sent out with one of my buddies to look at the island of Tinian off of the Mariana Islands. I never got to Tinian for it was known to be a minefield.” I couldn’t start to imagine what this was like.  The scarring effect on those soldiers to know that today could be their last.  Now I look at the flag as a sign of a soldier's duty to maintain our freedom.

This past September, my family persuaded my grandpa to go on the Honor Flight with my dad--an eight-hour flight for veterans and one family member to Washington D.C. to see the Korean, Vietnam, and WWII memorials. The veterans on the Honor Flight also saw Arlington Cemetery and the Changing of the Guard ceremony.
 
When the veterans flew back, my family was at the end of the parade. I cried when my grandpa came around. I cried when he hugged me. And I cried when he took the flag balloons I bought for him--the flag that represented him, veterans, and America’s freedom.

  Even at 96, my grandpa is a hero. And his patriotism and becoming a Seabee make him honorable. 

When I look at the flag, I see soldiers and freedom. I see strength, as well as struggle in our country. But most of all, I see my grandpa...my honorable and patriotic American grandpa.