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BAGHDAD, Iraq (January 3, 2008) - Like any soldier, Army Pfc.
Alexander Cesario always makes sure he has all his essential
equipment before he goes "outside the wire." For Cesario, that
means his weapon, radio and night-vision goggles, as well as one
special personal item: an American flag his father brought home
from Vietnam.
Cesario, a Somerville, N.J., native serving as a forward
observer with 82nd Airborne Division's Company A, Special Troops
Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, has carried his father's flag
with him on every mission since being deployed to Iraq a year
ago.
The soldier's father, Adam, 61, acquired the flag when he was a
young paratrooper serving in Vietnam. The elder Cesario never let a
day go by without unfurling the flag, no matter where he was or
what he was doing.
"(My dad) flew that flag every day, even if he had to put it up
on a radio antenna," Cesario said.
At one point, a mission went wrong and Cesario's father was cut
off from the rest of his platoon. For three days, he had to hack it
out of the jungle alone, with the Viet Cong in hot pursuit. But
even on the run, he still managed to raise the flag each day.
"He didn't stop moving at all for those three days, except to
fly that flag," Cesario said.
When Cesario's father returned from the war, he put the flag
into safekeeping. He was so protective of it that even family
members were rarely allowed to handle it.
"It was like his prized possession," Cesario said.
Nothing could make the elder Cesario part with the flag until
Alexander, 19, was deployed to Iraq this year. After he began
patrolling the streets of Baghdad, Cesario decided he wanted to
carry on his father's tradition. After some arm-twisting, he
convinced his dad to mail him the flag.
The flag arrived with step-by-step instructions on how to take
care of it, Cesario said. He recalled the final step with a laugh:
"If you lose it, don't bother coming home."
Despite the threat of exile, Cesario takes the flag with him
everywhere. It is his way of paying tribute to his father, he
said.
"I wanted to honor him," Cesario said, "It meant a lot to him,
and because of that, it means a lot to me."
The soldier keeps the flag tucked into the front flap of his
body armor, close to his heart. He said he's looking forward to
redeploying and returning the flag -- now a veteran of two wars --
to its rightful owner.
Cesario, who is single, said he would like to pass the flag on
to his own son when he has one. There's only one problem.
"I'll have to pry it away from my dad first," he joked.
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