“This is why I fight and why I continue to serve,” said Sgt. Theresa Flannery, as she held her 2-year old son on a stage where she was once crowned Miss Madison County and Miss Teen Madison County.
Flannery, a 1997 graduate of Madison Southern High School who spent most of 2004 with the U.S. Army in Iraq, was recognized Friday evening as the second annual Kentucky Veterans Welcome Home Celebration began at the Madison County Fair Grounds.
Flannery joined the military in 2000, had already fulfilled her two-year active duty assignment and was assigned to the Lexington-based 15th Transportation Reserve Company, when she was activated in December 2003.
The next month she was driving vehicles in Iraq. On April 4, 2004, her unit came under attack by insurgents who hoped to kill or capture a member of U.S. Ambassador Paul Bremer’s staff in the volatile city of Najaf.
For nearly 12 hours, she was operating a rifle rather than an automobile, firing off 800 rounds.
She was the only woman in a continent of about 20 Americans that stood with Spanish soldiers to hold off an attack by more than 1,000 insurgents.
“I fractured my hand as I jumped to the ground to take cover,” she said. “I heard two bullets whiz past my head as I fell.” Two of her comrades were wounded as the attack began.
“Their blood is still on these boots,” she said, pointing to her unpolished footwear.
“My hand was swollen, but it was not diagnosed as fractured until two weeks later,” she said. “It hurt as I was firing my rifle, but when you’re fighting for your life, you forget about the pain.”
She was awarded a purple heart and a combat citation for valor.
Flannery said both of her brothers, David and Christopher, followed her into the military.
Their parents are David and Maggie Flannery of Berea.
Flannery, who now lives in Lexington, is set to receive two associate’s degrees from the Bluegrass Community and Technical College in May. She hopes to receive those diplomas before returning for a second tour of duty next year in Iraq.
After Flannery spoke, a group of 18 young people from Kentucky, three of whom are joining the Army and 15 others going into the Air Force, took the recruit’s oath to defend the U.S. Constitution.
“A lot of young people are stepping up to carry the torch of American freedom,” said Chuck Sawyers, a U.S. Marine veteran of the Vietnam War who chairs the celebration’s organizing committee.
U.S. Air Force Capt. Centron Felder said recruiters in Kentucky have met their goals since 1999.
After the opening ceremony, the celebration’s focus shifted to the traveling copy of the Vietnam War Memorial.
The third Friday in September is always a day of remembrance for Prisoners of War and those still listed as Missing in Action, said Emerson McAfee, another Vietnam veteran who serves on the celebration committee.
Those in attendance stood in solemn silence as the setting sun cast long shadows toward the memorial that stretches for nearly 300 feet.
Nancy Pickle, a member of the Madison Southern High School Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps, concluded the ceremony by playing taps.
The celebration livened up afterward as Faded Blue, which plays Motown and southern rock tunes, took to the performance stage at 7 p.m. Country artist Tim Hellard of Berea performed at 9.
The celebration continues today and Sunday.
Bill Robinson can be reached at brobinson@richmondregister.com or at 623-1669, Ext. 267.
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