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Onlookers and officers from various departments observe as the
Tennessee Highway Patrol Honor Guard carries the U.S. Honor Flag through
the Nashville International Airport as the flag made its first visit to Tennessee.
The United States Honor Flag was welcomed with ceremony and excitement as it arrived in Nashville the afternoon of March 11 to pay tribute to the state’s fallen heroes.
The flag, which originally flew over the Capitol building of the state of Texas, flew over the Tennessee state Capitol to honor recently fallen Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agent 1/Lt. William “Eric” Emmert – a longtime AAST member and former Tennessee trooper – and Sequatchie County Sheriff’s deputy Lt. David Gann, and all other fallen heroes.
Tpr. Jeffrey Buchanan salutes as the Honor Flag
flies atop the Tennessee Capitol.
State of Tennessee photo
Emmert, 36, was killed in action February 24 while serving in Mosul, Iraq, with the 269th Military Police Company, 117th Military Police Battalion of the National Guard. He spent more than a decade with the Tennessee Highway Patrol, worked on the governor's security detail, and had moved to the TBI in 2007. He is survived by his parents. Gann was killed in an on-duty automobile crash on February 17.
Shortly after the September 11, 2001, attacks, the Honor Flag was sent to New York City, where it was flown at memorial services and at ground zero during the recovery efforts. Family members requested the flag be used for all other service men and women around the nation, honoring them just as the heroes of 9/11 were honored. Since then, the U.S. Honor Flag has been flown to cities all around the nation, making its way to Kuwait, Qatar, and Iraq in October 2004. This was the first time the Honor Flag has flown in the state of Tennessee.
Members of the Tennessee Honor Guard carry the flag through
the airport to the awaiting motorcade, as officers line the walkway.
The flag departed Miami, Fla., that morning, traveling in the cockpit with the pilot, and when it touched down at Nashville International Airport just after 1 p.m., the plane was met by a water-cannon salute. The Tennessee Highway Patrol’s Honor Guard, along with dozens of officers from various agencies including the THP, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Tennessee Army National Guard, Sequatchie County Sheriff’s Department, Nashville International Airport Department of Public Safety, and Metro Nashville Police, met the pilot at the gate to receive the flag. A motorcade escorted the flag to the state Capitol where it flew at half-staff, honoring all fallen heroes and those currently protecting our lives, homes, and our country.
For more information about the U.S. Honor Flag, visit www.USHonorFlag.org.
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