Article published Thursday, April 3, 2008 Waterville flag flew in Iraq as banner was a bit of home to local Marine
Jon Meyer holds the Waterville village flag that hung on his barracks wall while he was serving with the Marines in Iraq. The flag came back with him and now flies in Pray Park to honor him and other local veterans. He served seven months and 18 days and fought in Fallujah.
Jon Meyer wanted to carry a bit of his hometown with him when he was deployed to Iraq as a Marine rifleman, so he took the red, white, and blue Waterville village flag.
Today that flag flies above the village's Pray Park on U.S. 24, a tribute to Mr. Meyer, who saw action in what became the Third Battle of Fallujah, and to service men and women everywhere who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Mr. Meyer said the flag was a valuable reminder of home during his stressful time in a combat zone.
"The day before I left, I went to the chamber of commerce office and asked if they had one. They said sure, and I took it. I hung it in our barracks room," he explained.
Mr. Meyer, 24, grew up in Waterville, the son of Linda and Dan Meyer. He joined the Marine Corps Reserve after graduating from Anthony Wayne High School in 2002 and was sent to Parris Island, S.C., for basic training.
He served seven months and 18 days in Iraq, becoming a rifle squad leader in the 1st Battalion of the 24th Marine Regiment and earning a promotion to sergeant before being demobilized.
Flying his flag over Pray Park was the idea of Mayor Derek Merrin, who also honored Mr. Meyer with a commendation.
"I wanted to remind everyone that Jon Meyer and others from Waterville and elsewhere are sent around the world to protect us and our freedoms," the mayor said. "I don't think our country does enough to say thank you. I plan to continue to honor veterans."
Mr. Meyer has been back in Waterville almost a year. He's studying history and fine arts at Lourdes College, and will be going back into the Marine Corps as a lieutenant for four years of active duty after he gets his bachelor's degree.
"It's just good to be home," Mr. Meyer said. His readjustment to civilian life was smooth, he explained, but he thinks about Fallujah and his fellow Marines every day.
He especially recalls the last week of October, 2006. "It was just a knock-down, drag-out fight," he said. He and his comrades cleared out neighborhoods street by street, block by block, and room by room, he added.
"We'd find all sorts of weapons and explosives hidden among civilians," he said. "Fallujah is a city of 350,000 - bigger than Toledo."
His memory recently was jarred by a BBC television report from Fallujah featuring a mosque that was all too familiar.
"I spent a lot of hours in a house near that mosque. It was a desperate fight. We were counting our magazines. We came out of there with three killed and five wounded," he recounted.
Mr. Meyer reads a lot these days, especially military history. He spends time with his girlfriend and has a job selling Gunzilla, an environmentally friendly gun cleaner made by a company in Lansing, Mich. He said he used Gunzilla in Iraq and can attest to its effectiveness.
And what will he do with his life after the Marine Corps? "Eventually I may be a teacher, maybe at the collegiate level. We'll have to see," he said. Permanent Link
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