Story posted Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Flag Of Honor
Commander's Son Returns Gift To Rosemont
When Rosemont Public Safety Commander Frank Siciliano's son, Frank Jr., was serving in Afghanistan last year, he received a gift from back home.
The Rosemont Public Safety Dept. sent a department flag over as a simple "thank you". The younger Frank Siciliano carried that flag, along with an American flag, as he traveled across Afghanistan. Siciliano served overseas from October 2008 to August 2009.
Last Wednesday at the monthly Rosemont Village Board meeting, Siciliano and partner Matt Shrock returned the favor to the Rosemont Public Safety Dept.
Both men served in Freeport's 333rd Military Police Company of the 101st Airborne Division. They presented Public Safety 1st Deputy Supt. Donald E. Stephens III with the original flag, still dusty from combat, and the company's "challenge" coin.
"We carried (the flag) everywhere with us. It saw its share of combat," they told Stephens.
The challenge coin has two sides. One side commemorates the police mission as "serving and protecting citizens of the United States of America." The other side includes a map of Afghanistan and honors the 333rd company's work during Operation Enduring Freedom.
As for the American flag that also went everywhere with Siciliano, that went to his father, who also serving in the Army's military police unit for six years.
---Bobby Chilver
Speak Out!
Comments are edited first by Journal staff before running in print and appearing online.