County Seat Newspaper
of Clare County

Freedom Park Receives Special Gift

Flag From Afghanistan Base Now Part of Park

Posted

HARRISON – Locally, Scott Taylor is known to be a sergeant with the Michigan State Police’s Mount Pleasant post. But he is much more than an MSP Trooper with 23 years on the job. He also is a Military Police Academy instructor, formally SFC Scott Taylor, assigned to 1/177 B RTI, Fort Custer, Augusta, Michigan, where he serves as a senior instructor with the Military Police Academy basic leadership course as a small group leader.

Taylor has also taken his skills to the war-torn Middle East. He recently completed his second tour of duty in Afghanistan, this last time from January to September in Bagram, Afghanistan.

On Oct. 23, he joined local military historian and Veterans Freedom Park Committee member Joe Bradley at the park where Taylor presented Bradley with a U.S. flag which was flown Memorial Day of this year over SGT Baldridge Basic Leaders Course in Bagram, Afghanistan. He said the compound [campus] was named as a memorial to Sgt. Dillon Baldridge who had been scheduled to attend the course in 2017 but was killed in action in Afghanistan. The accompanying plaque reads as follows:

Headquarters United States Forces of Afghanistan

The Flag of the United States of America is presented in honor of the Veterans Freedom Park

This flag was flown on Memorial Day, 27 May 2019 at the SGT Baldridge Basic Leaders Course in Afghanistan, in honor and memory of the Fallen Service Members of our Community. We respect and honor their dedicated service in the United States Armed Forces in the name of freedom and democracy, for allegiance to God and country in courageously protecting our liberty and independence, and in respect to their sacrifice and selfless service. “TRAIN TO FIGHT, FIGHT TO WIN”

“KHOSTAN… TAWANESTAN”  “WE CAN…WE WILL”

Signed by Scott E. Taylor, SSG, USA, BLC/SGL, 1/177 RTI 31B Sr Instructor, and Johnson, Nathan P. SFC, USA, BLC/SGL, 1/177 RTI 31B Sr Instructor.

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