New flagpoles dedicated
Six new flagpoles and flags – representing each branch of the United States military – were dedicated during a special ceremony last Friday (Veterans Day) at the Purple Heart monument at Linscott Park.
While the cold temperatures cancelled the Veterans Day parade that afternoon, the morning ceremony was still held for the flagpole project.
One by one, each flag was raised on the new flagpoles while American Legion Post 44 Commander Pat Fontaine gave a brief description of the military branches, which include the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force and Coast Guard.
The new 20-foot poles are a project of the Holton American Legion Riders Post 44, which has been raising funds for several years to purchase the poles.
Mike McManigal of the American Legion Riders said that when the Purple Heart monument was established in the park in 2017, the group wanted to continue to enhance the area.
McManigal said the American Legion Riders “slowly” started raising funds for the new flagpoles, and then COVID-19 stalled the project until this year.
“I think we would have loved to have done this years ago, but we’re now just getting everything in place,” McManigal said.
Several members of the local American Legion Riders, including McManigal, Rob Wareham, David Powelson and Dale Upton, prepared the concrete pads for the new flagpoles in early October.
The new poles have been placed along the horseshoe-shaped sidewalk near the Purple Heart monument.
After the six flags were raised during the ceremony, Jayme Malsom, Holton High School band director, sang the national anthem while the American and Kansas flags were raised on a 30-foot flagpole installed at the park in 2020 as part of Johan Campbell’s Eagle Scout project.
The following is some of the history of each branch of the military that was shared during the ceremony:
Army: Founded on June 14, 1775, the mission of the U.S. Army is “to fight and win our nation’s wars by providing prompt, sustained land dominance across the full range of military operation and the spectrum of conflict.” Currently, the U.S. Army includes more than 1,006,000 soldiers, including the Army, Army National Guard and Army Reserve.
Marine Corps: Founded in a tavern in Philadelphia on Nov. 10, 1775, the U.S. Marine Corps is the maritime land force responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combined arms, implementing its own infantry, artillery, aerial and special operations forces. Its mission is to be the “most ready when the nation is least ready.”
Navy: The U.S. Navy was founded on March 27, 1794. The U.S. Navy is the largest and most powerful navy in the world. With 337,000 personnel on active duty and 102,000 in the Ready Reserve, the Navy maintains a sizable global presence.
Air Force: Born out of the Army Air Corps, the U.S. Air Force was created on Sept. 18, 1947. Its core missions are air supremacy, global integrated intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, rapid global mobility, global strike and command and control.
Space Force: The smallest and the youngest service, the U.S. Space Force was created on Dec. 20, 2019, and consists of 8,400 military personnel operating 77 spacecrafts across various programs. Its duties are to “protect the interest of the United States in space, deter aggression in, from and to space, and conduct space operations.”
Coast Guard: The U.S. Coast Guard was founded on Jan. 28, 1915, as a humanitarian and security service. The Coast Guard operates under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security during peacetime. During times of war, it can be transferred in whole or in part to the Department of the Navy.
