Man presents N.D. Guard commander with rare flag
By ELOISE OGDEN, Regional Editor, eogden@minotdailynews.comArticle Photos
A flag commemorating North Dakota's statehood will hang in the state's National Guard headquarters, thanks to a Garrison man.
Maj. Gen. David Sprynczynatyk, North Dakota Army National Guard adjutant general, received during Saturday's Freedom Salute an original 39-star North Dakota flag presented to him by the Rev. Steve Holmes of Garrison.
North Dakota was the 39th state to enter the Union.
The flag is more than 120 years old and made of silk, Holmes said.
He explained the history behind the flag:
In 1889, North Dakota became a state along with South Dakota, Washington and Wyoming, increasing the number of stars on the national flag by four.
But Holmes said each of the states decided to create its own star flag celebrating its individual admission to the Union, which is usually done July 4 of the next year.
He said printers in North Dakota created the 39-star parade flag, although it never was a national flag.
"It celebrates North Dakota coming into the Union," Holmes said.
A friend of Holmes who is a collector said it is called a stillborn flag because it was never national, Holmes said.
Holmes said there are some of these flags around and he has found a few of them over the years. He said the State Historical Society of North Dakota in Bismarck has two of these flags.
Holmes acquired the flag that he presented to Sprynczynatyk from an antiquities dealer in Cape Cod, Mass.
The flag is framed between two pieces of glass and at the base is a dedication plaque to Master Sgt. Dean Newton, Holmes said. Newton, of Garrison, died this summer.
"He was in the Guard for 37 years, lived at the Fraine Barracks and was very well known," Holmes said. Fraine Barracks is the headquarters of the N.D. National Guard headquarters.
Newton and Holmes served together on the state InterService Family Assistance Committee which is a voluntary military cooperative partnership organized to provide multi-service networking for family readiness.
Both Newton and Holmes also were in charge of the family support group in Garrison for the past four years.
Holmes said he presented the flag to Sprynczynatyk "to be hung in the armory at the Fraine Barracks."
He said two other 39-star flags that he has obtained over the years are in Garrison. He gave a framed flag to the elementary school in Garrison and it is in the library. He gave the other flag to the Fort Stevenson Historical Foundation and it is hanging in the Guardhouse museum at Fort Stevenson south of Garrison.
"It was never a national flag and that's why it's so rare," Holmes said.
Eagle print presentation
During the Freedom Salute Holmes also presented an eagle art print to Maj. Grant Wilz.
Wilz, who has been the director of the National Guard's Family Program Office for a number of years, is leaving the family program for a position with the 68th Troop Command in Bismarck.
Holmes, the artist of the print, presented Wilz with the print of an eagle returning to the nest with the other eagle sitting in the nest.
"That has become basically 'the print' of the National Guard across the state for family support program," Holmes said. He said the image of the eagle returning to the nest is the returning soldier.
The Freedom Salute ceremony featured a number of awards for the soldiers of the 164th Engineer Battalion who returned in May from an 11-month deployment that took them to Baghdad, Iraq, with Task Force Shield. The battalion had performed security, engineering and humanitarian assistance.
Soldiers also presented awards to their families and area family support groups.
Battalion commander, Lt. Col. Steven Jahner, now at the Pentagon, received the Meritorious Service Medal.
The battalion presented Gov. John Hoeven with a framed North Dakota flag flown in Baghdad on North Dakota statehood day Nov. 2, 2007.
Hoeven responded that he is pleased the battalion brought back the state flag but he is even more pleased that they brought back all the 119 soldiers in the unit. The 119 soldiers represented 29 North Dakota communities, two towns in Montana, one in Iowa and one in Minnesota.
Hoeven said the North Dakota National Guard has earned a favorable national reputation.
"Our people are doing so well, the Pentagon wants them all the time," he said. "Every time they get called, volunteers step up above and beyond the number they asked for. It's a testament to our great troops."
Congressman Earl Pomeroy also spoke of the battalion's service without complaint even in difficult circumstances. He noted Congress has improved the GI bill to ensure Guard soldiers receive educational benefits. The two years of service required to receive GI benefits was changed to a pro-rated benefit based on years of service, with full benefits after three years.
"We say thank you," he said, "but with this new GI bill, the benefits are going to be more tangible."
(Jill Schramm, staff writer, contributed to this story.)
