MORGANTOWN — To passing motorists, they just look like flags.
One indistinguishable from the next.
But each of those stars and stripes comes with a story about a hero.
A soldier, a nurse, a teacher, a coach, a mom.
A big brother — like Gene Yura.
“He was like my dad. He was 15 or 16 years older and he just took me under his wing. My father wasn’t a very demonstrative kind of guy and my brother understood that,” Michael Yura said. “In the latter part of his life, we called each other every week. He was my hero.”
Yura is part of the Cheat Lake Rotary Club behind the Flags for Heroes program which has grown from 100 flags four years ago to more than 300 placed along Don Knotts Boulevard, near WVU’s Creative Arts Center and at the entrance to the Pierpont Centre.
The flags will be displayed through July 4th.
Yura said the program’s growth, in part, is due to businesses and organizations sponsoring dozens of flags for their employees to dedicate.
The Monongalia County Commission put up $1,500 to sponsor 30 flags for county employees.
The commissioners paid for their own.
“My father, Edward Bloom, was a lifetime member of the 34th Red Bull Infantry Division. My wife’s father, Robert Escott, was in the Korean War and became an amazing state policeman in Pennsylvania,” Commission President, and Rotarian, Tom Bloom said. “I wanted to honor both of them, not only for their service, but their commitment to the community, and to America. It’s something very important to me.”
Yura said there are still plenty of flags to sponsor by contacting a Rotary member or heading over to cheatlakerotary.org. Sponsorships are $50.
So far, the program has raised thousands of dollars used by Rotary in support of Lauren’s Wish Addiction Triage Center at Hazel’s House of Hope, the Monongalia County Health Department’s Smile Express and other initiatives.
Yura said he’s hopeful those looking to sponsor a flag will take the time to tell their hero’s story on the club’s website.
“Who is a hero in your life? All of us have somebody. Everyone has a story,” he said.
TWEET @DominionPostWV
