Marine 1st Lt. Casey Viegelahn honors hometown with an American flag flown in Iraq

World War II Navy veteran Bob Centala appeared at Monday?s Rogers City Council meeting to present an American flag to the City of Rogers City on behalf of his grandson, Marine 1st Lt. Casey Viegelahn. The flag flew over the Multi-National Corp. Headquarters in Baghdad, Iraq. Instead of the traditional pre-council meeting Pledge of Allegiance, Centala sang the National Anthem and during the portion of the meeting set aside for citizens to appear the council, he read from a certificate that stated the flag flew over the palace headquarters July 4, 2006. He took the flag out of a thin box and unfolded it for council members and those sitting in the audience to see.

Centala, who gave the flag to the city, said Viegelahn was asked about the meaning of the flag by an officer of the Iraqi police. He told him ?Together we stand, divided we fall.? The Iraqi officer looked at him and said ?we will have the same thing: peace.? Viegelahn, the son of Mark and Roberta Viegelahn of Rogers City, was stationed in Iraq from March to August before being assigned to a post at Camp Hansen in Okinawa, Japan, where he is in charge of a unit of Military Police. He is living out one of his life goals of becoming a Marine, although his career did not start as well as he had hoped.

AFTER GRADUATING from RCHS in 1998, he was rejected by the Marines and did not get any further than Lansing, before being forced to turn back home to Rogers City. He suffered a shoulder injured received during a stellar high school wrestling career. Viegelahn worked his way through college sailing on the Great Lakes and graduated from Central Michigan University with a business management degree. He again decided to enlist, and with no re-occurrences of his shoulder popping out since his wrestling days, he went to boot camp in June 2004 and was commissioned as an officer in August 2004. His enlistment will continue until February 2008, at which time he plans on entering law school to become an attorney, said Roberta Viegelahn. While in Iraq, Viegelahn was assigned to Detention Operations and was involved in the release of all detainees in the country. For a time, he was involved in the delivery of the payroll to the Iraqi police, who are a constant target of bombing attacks by insurgents. He was assigned a bodyguard and traveled throughout different locations of Baghdad. ?I believe the reason he honored his hometown with a flag is because he appreciates and misses home,? said Roberta Viegelahn, ?and he is proud of our town and thoughts of the peace of home got him through the ?turmoil? over there!?

ON THE DAY ?Old Glory? flew over the Multi-National Corps. Headquarters, Viegelahn wrote an email to his family, thanking them for their packages, prayers, and emails, but asked family and friends to prayer for his Marine comrades and soldiers in the field who are sacrificing their lives ?for our great country,? the July 4 email stated. ?Make sure you say a special prayer for the young men, the privates, Lance Corpals, and NCOs that are doing all the fighting and dying.?

He also challenged an opinion expressed in a newspaper letter to the editor, about the mission in Iraq. ?It was written by a person that called himself a reverend; his letter went on to say that the young men and women over here are dying for no reason,? said Viegelahn. ?This opinion seems to stand fast with many citizens in our communities, but I will challenge that opinion with examples of kindness and hope.? Recently, in the Al Anbar province, a group of Marines risked their lives to

deliver a wheelchair to a little girl injured in a car accident, stated Viegelahn. He also said a group of soldiers risked their lives to give toys and medical supplies to Iraqi children in an orphanage. ?And every day Marines and Soldiers are risking their lives for each other. If these examples are the equivalent to ?nothing,? I am curious to what that ?something? would be,? he stated. ?It could possibly be for a whale stuck in a fisherman?s net, or the 100-year-old oak tree that stands in the middle of a new development site, or maybe that 12 -point buck I plan to whack with an arrow when I finally make it home.?

Viegelahn added that if you ask him what that ?something? is, it is giving a group of people the opportunity to do the same ?stupid things we do.?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.