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ATLANTA – The Old Glory Relay finished it’s multi-state run with the American flag to honor U.S. veterans who have served and sacrificed for the country.
The last leg of the relay started in Lithia Springs, Georgia, with veterans carrying Old Glory 18 miles east to the finish line in Atlanta. By late morning, the group had made it to the finish line outside Mercedes-Benz Stadium, led by Army vet and leg amputee Rob Pierce. With the American flag in tow, the group waited specifically until 11:11 am to cross the finish line, signifying the importance of Veterans Day and their abounding gratitude to those who have worn a uniform and served this country.
"It’s a way of service to each other," Pierce said. "Military service is a lot of that. It’s a brotherhood. You serve the person next to you along with your country. But you form very strong bonds, and the idea that I can still be apart — that I can still be with them in spirit — if not in person, is a big deal."
Army vet and leg amputee Rob Pierce carries the American flag as he leads a group of veterans and supporters to the finish line of Team Red, White and Blue's Old Glory Relay. (Fox News/Charles Watson)
Team Red, White and Blue, a non-profit that works to support veterans by helping them find fulfillment through lasting relationships with other veterans and civilians, organized the event. This year was the seventh relay it’s hosted and the first it has been able to pull off in the two years since the start of the pandemic.
Despite the hiatus, Brett Sanpietro, Team Red, White and Blue's director of operations, said the organization was determined to honor the nation’s veterans and continue on with its core mission of building relationships between vets and the communities they live in.
"In the civilian world, you can have all sorts of organizations and all sorts of clubs, and people will say like a fraternity, for example, we’re brothers, sorority we’re sisters. But in the military, that camaraderie comes out of service," Sanpietro said. "And so we still have that to focus on, and it helps us kind of put some of the other, less consequential but more divisive stuff aside."
The journey to Atlanta was a long one that quite literally took thousands of helping hands to pull off. The Old Glory Relay kicked off two months ago in New York City during the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. A group of veterans, supporters and volunteers with Team Red, White and Blue gathered at Ground Zero and unfurled the American flag that would travel for 2,500 miles through nine states including New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia, plus Washington D.C.
Along the way, which included stops at every 9/11 crash site, the flag was passed hand to hand among 1,200 veterans who volunteered to walk and/or run with the flag for stretches that ranged from a few dozen feet to up to 20 miles.
Asked about the reasoning behind honoring veterans with a flag relay, Sanpietro said something big needed to be done.
"You got to do something crazy for people to want to be a part of it. And for it to kind of harken back to that service," he said. "Moving that flag 2,500 miles, waking up as early as 5, 6 a.m. to do it. Staying out well past dark sometimes to make sure you get to that next relay person. That's about commitment, that's about service and that's about delivering for the other people."
On the brink of tears, Pierce echoed the same sentiment as he he acknowledged some of the men he knows personally at Walter Reed National Military Center who would have loved to have been at the finish line but were unable to due to serious medical ailments.
"There’s a lot of guys there that would love to be here that have the strength, the spirit and the drive, but their situations are different and they’re unable to be here," he said. "It’s an honor that I can and can represent them."
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