{"id":70074,"date":"2021-08-17T01:35:30","date_gmt":"2021-08-17T01:35:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/08\/17\/retired-marine-displays-giant-american-flag-in-west-virginia\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T13:45:55","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T13:45:55","slug":"retired-marine-displays-giant-american-flag-in-west-virginia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/2021\/08\/17\/retired-marine-displays-giant-american-flag-in-west-virginia\/","title":{"rendered":"Retired Marine displays giant American flag in West Virginia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When retired U.S. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marinecorpstimes.com\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2019\/07\/29\/new-west-virginia-military-operations-center-named-for-wwii-medal-of-honor-recipient\/\" target=\"_blank\">Marine Corps<\/a> Master Sgt. Dayton Meadows displays the American flag at his Mercer County, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marinecorpstimes.com\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2018\/10\/30\/world-war-ii-marine-buried-in-west-virginia\/\" target=\"_blank\">West Virginia<\/a>, property, people notice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The 20-foot by 38-foot U.S. garrison flag is secured to an 82-foot-tall flagpole just outside the Interstate 77-West Virginia Turnpike right of way at Milepost 25, midway between the Ghent and Athens interchanges. Clearly visible to both northbound and southbound travelers, the giant flag is on display day and night, illuminated by a spotlight during the hours of darkness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cMore than 600,000 vehicles travel this section of interstate every month,\u201d said Meadows. \u201cI figure each one is carrying at least two people, on average, meaning that more than a million people see the flag each month.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.marinecorpstimes.com\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2021\/08\/12\/world-war-ii-korean-war-marines-stories-brought-to-life-in-new-graphic-novel\/\" target=\"_blank\">The flag<\/a> was first raised on Aug. 27, 2016, through the efforts of The Freedom Flag Project, created by Meadows and supported by fellow veterans, neighbors and friends. Meadows also organized the nonprofit Mountain Memories Veterans Retreat, a secluded, 200-acre tract of land with a lodge available to service members who have returned from<a href=\"https:\/\/www.marinecorpstimes.com\/flashpoints\/afghanistan\/2021\/08\/16\/mental-health-resources-are-available-for-veterans-unsettled-by-afghanistan-news\/\" target=\"_blank\"> stressful missions<\/a> abroad, located a few miles east of the giant flag.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2021\/08\/12\/world-war-ii-korean-war-marines-stories-brought-to-life-in-new-graphic-novel\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"293\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/p51-panel-6.jpg.jpg?w=293\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">World War II, Korean War Marine\u2019s stories brought to life in new graphic novel<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Strombo&#039;s stories were brought to life by graphic novelist and Air Force veteran August Uhl in \u201cFull Mag: Veterans Stories Illustrated.\u201d<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meadows said the motivation for his giant flag display and veterans\u2019 support work is based on his belief that \u201cAmerica is involved in the biggest battle in its history.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe\u2019re losing our sense of patriotism and we\u2019re ignoring our veterans,\u201d he said. \u201cInstead of working together, everyone\u2019s playing the blame game. I feel obligated to tell people what\u2019s good about America and how much our veterans have done for our country. America\u2019s got its problems, but it\u2019s still the best country in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meadows grew up in southern West Virginia, attended Woodrow Wilson High School in Beckley, West Virginia, and enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1963, on his 18th birthday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI liked the Marines\u2019 commercial about building men in mind, body and spirit, and wanted to be a part of it,\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To say he doesn\u2019t regret the move is an understatement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of his early duty assignments was as an electronics technician for HMX-1, the presidential helicopter squadron that operates Marine Corps One. In 1969\u20131970, Meadows served as a helicopter door gunner in Vietnam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI was terrified when I first got to Vietnam, but I\u2019ll never forget the feeling of camaraderie I had by the time I left,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He later was an aircraft systems analyst with a Marine A-6 unit, then spent the last nine years of his Marine career as a recruiter at a variety of West Virginia locations, including two years in Charleston.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Near the base of the giant flag, on a 42-acre tract of land fronting U.S. 19, which parallels I-77, Meadows makes use of an A-frame cottage, a shop and a cluster of storage buildings, and lives in a cabin in a wooded section of the property away from the freeway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meadows said he is now raising funds, collecting donated and discounted supplies, and organizing donated labor for a new addition to the flagpole area \u2014 a 1,900 square-foot pavilion, half enclosed and half open-air. He said he envisions it being used for community events, awards ceremonies, and \u201cany activities that promote core American values.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He hopes to have the new pavilion open by October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meadows also plans to convert the A-frame into an Airbnb rental unit, and to replace the existing eye-catching flag with an even larger one \u2014 a 30-foot by 60-foot banner displayed from a 135-foot tall flagpole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBigger is better,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meadows said he draws a large measure of inspiration for his work from World War II Medal of Honor recipient and fellow Marine and West Virginian Hershel \u201cWoody\u201d Williams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhen I first started on the flag project, Woody asked me how long I thought it would take me to get it raised,\u201d Meadows recalled. \u201cI told him three to six months. It ended up taking two years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Five years ago, Williams was the main speaker at the flag raising ceremony for the giant banner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI got the last screw put in the flagpole\u2019s base a few minutes before Woody got here,\u201d Meadows said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cBigger is better,\u201d says retired Marine Corps Master Sgt. Dayton Meadows.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":104644,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":12,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,10,12,26,6458,19],"tags":[],"coauthors":[5385],"class_list":["post-70074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-military-honor","category-news","category-newsletters","category-salute-veterans","category-veterans"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"KC3RJPL2BVF7VHH3RJL4NL7YCM","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/2021\/08\/16\/retired-marine-displays-giant-american-flag-in-west-virginia\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Retired Marine displays giant American flag in West Virginia - Navy Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u201cBigger is better,\u201d says retired Marine Corps Master Sgt. 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