Memorial flag flown at local business to commemorate military action

Houlton Pioneer Times photo/Doug Dickinson
MEANINGFUL FLAG — SPC Josh Sennett displays a Memorial flag above Walmart in recognition of the victory over Osama bin Laden and in memory of everyone lost in the Global War on Terror.
By Doug Dickinson
Staff Writer
    HOULTON — The day after President Barack Obama announced the death of Osama bin Laden, Walmart shoppers in Houlton saw a flag flying above the store.
    The Memorial flag was put up by U.S. Army Specialist and store employee, Josh Sennett. The significance of the flag is that it’s the Memorial flag that was sent to the main army military chapel in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
    The flag was flown every time a soldier, fallen soldier or fallen hero had come home to the United States, and was also an escort for when allies had lost soldiers, airmen and seamen.
    According to SPC Sennett, the flag was presented to him upon its retirement in 2009 and was to be sent to a caretaker. He explained why he is displaying the flag at Walmart.
    “With the victories that were accomplished yesterday by a group of highly dedicated and motivated United States Military Personnel in the apprehension and destruction of Osama bin Laden and the confirmation of the kill, I am flying it in the memory of every soldier, airman, and seaman who has been lost on the Global War on Terror to show that their sacrifice has not gone unwarranted,” said SPC Sennett.
    SPC Sennett served in Afghanistan as a Specialist, E4 traffic assistant. He was responsible for the religious and moral support of American soldiers. His primary function was to act as a bodyguard, and his secondary role was to be an administrative assistant, crisis counselor, and crisis intervention person. He also assembled all materials for religious and memorial ceremonies.
    When asked how he felt upon hearing of Osama bin Laden’s death, SPC Sennett couldn’t put it into words.
    “There is no word to describe it. There is none,” he said.
    Walmart management is allowing SPC Sennett to display the flag.
    “Josh came to us wanting to fly the flag and the store is more than willing to accommodate him,” said a Walmart supervisor.
    In the store on Monday morning, SPC Sennett spoke with Freda and Steve Rush of Houlton. Freda’s son Adam Colyer is currently employed in Afghanistan, and her son Brent Colyer is in the Navy.
    “Your son is doing a great job. This flies for him,” SPC Sennett told her. “It will be flown today, and it will be flown whenever a major victory comes from what we have done, and what your children do.”