Army recruiters in Michigan quickly rescued an American flag after witnessing its flagpole falling due to severe weather.
Staff Sgt. Eric Barkhorn and Staff Sgt. Jared Ferguson were attending a recruiting event at Top Gun Shooting Sports when a flagpole with the American flag suddenly fell to the ground. The two quickly ran outside into the strong winds and hail to rescue the flag. Once inside, they folded the flag in the correct way so that the shooting complex’s owner could save it until he rebuilt his flagpole, Fox News reported.
The flag rescue was caught on surveillance video and has since gone viral.
Ferguson, who is a former infantryman for the 1st Infantry Division quickly assisted Barkhorn after seeing that the flag fell and helped him remove it from the fallen pole.
During an interview with Fox and Friends, the duo mentioned the importance of the flag and what it means to them.
“I kept thinking to myself, ‘I am not going to leave the flag on the ground. The flag means everything to me. It’s everything we stand for, it’s everything we fight for,’” Staff Sgt. Eric Barkhorn said.
“We wear the flag on our shoulders every time we put on our uniform. It’s definitely really important [to me],” Ferguson added.
Barkhorn and Ferguson said that they didn’t know they were being filmed when they rescued the flag, and that they did it because they love their country.
“I had no idea that we were on camera and it’s something that I would have done if no one was watching,” Barkhorn said.
Barkhorn then added that he learned to respect the flag through his family and his time in the Army.
“My family was pretty patriotic growing up. It was further reiterated through my time in the Army,” he said.
Mike Barbour, owner of Top Gun Shooting Sports told FOX2 Detroit that he’s already installed a new flagpole. He added that the storm caused more than $100,000 in damage to his building after the rooftop air conditioner units were destroyed.
“It was pretty cool that the guys were there and did that and reacted as quick as they did. These guys go overseas, they’ve all been on deployment at different times and they risk their life. And now they’re back here doing recruitment work and they’re still risking their lives,” Barbour said.
