AUSTIN — Veterans of four different branches of the military were chosen to hold their respective flag.
An encased American flag that was first flown by the U.S. military in combat was saluted and transferred.
This all took place in front of a PepsiCo white cab and blue trailer with the large words “Rolling Remembrance,” logos for PepsiCo Valor and the Children of Fallen Patriots Foundation and the faces of a soldier and a graduate on each side.
This marks the seventh year PepsiCo has honored the military heroes who lost their lives while serving the United States through this program. Thirty-six PepsiCo drivers, who happen to be military veterans themselves, transported the American flag across the country, handing it off to one another at relay points from Seattle to New York.
Earlier this month, a stop was made at the Pepsi facility on the far west side of Austin.
Jackson County was represented by David Lafferty of Seymour, a U.S. Army veteran who has worked for Pepsi for nearly 45 years, holding the Army flag and Crothersville Police Department Chief Matt Browning and his K-9, Lunya, escorting the semitrailer from the stoplight in Austin to the Interstate 65 interchange just south of Crothersville.
“It was a lot of pomp and circumstance, but you know what the flag means to these guys,” Lafferty said, noting he’s proud to work for a company that values veterans. “That’s something special right there. I’m always a Marine. I don’t think I could get inside of a tank again, but if I could get in it, I would jump in with them right now.”
Browning said he was happy to escort the truck as it continued north to its next stop.
“It was really something amazing to be a part of, especially with having a son in the military,” he said. “I look forward to attending it next year, as well, and I thank Pepsi for asking me to be a part of the ceremony.”
The 9,000-plus-mile Rolling Remembrance relay raises awareness and funds for the Children of Fallen Patriots Foundation, an organization that provides college scholarships and educational counseling to children who have lost a parent in the line of duty.
On March 31, the American flag was carried by JetBlue on a flight piloted by veterans in partnership with the airline’s Vets in Blue crew member resource group to kick off this year’s relay. The flag was on a UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter on a combat mission in support of U.S. and coalition ground forces in the Kandahar Province of Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom in 2012.
The flag went from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport to its first stop in Seattle. This year’s veteran drivers collectively represented every branch of the U.S. military who served the country at home and abroad.
The 53-stop relay journey throughout the United States started April 5 and ended May 25. The annual event is led in partnership with PepsiCo’s employee resource group, PepsiCo Valor, which supports veteran employees and veterans in communities across the country.
“Each leg of this journey has meaning, to the driver, the community and the families of fallen patriots that Rolling Remembrance honors,” said Jim Farrell, senior vice president of operations for PepsiCo Beverages North America Central Division and executive sponsor of PepsiCo Valor.
“By honoring the sacrifices of these military heroes, supporting their families through Children of Fallen Patriots Foundation and recognizing our own military veterans at PepsiCo, we celebrate the important role of veterans in our country and in our company,” he said.
Over the last 35 years, approximately 25,000 children have lost a parent in military service, according to the foundation. Through scholarships and educational counseling, the organization helps bridge the average $25,000 gap between government assistance programs and the cost of a four-year degree that scholars face.
Since 2002, the foundation has provided nearly $52 million in total assistance to more than 2,200 military children who have lost a parent in the line of duty.
Since 2015, PepsiCo has raised more than $1.4 million in donations, which have impacted the lives of the children of fallen patriots, their families and their communities, said David Kim, co-founder and chief executive officer of the Children of Fallen Patriots Foundation. A full four-year education has been provided to 56 scholars.
“Investing in the education of military children who lost a parent in the line of duty is one of the best ways we can honor those who lost their lives defending our country and build up the next generation of leaders,” he said.
This was Lafferty’s second year attending the Rolling Remembrance ceremony in Austin, but this time was special because he got to hold the Army flag.
“If you were in the military … they wanted you to come out, and I just happened to be in the plant at the time,” he said. “I knew it was coming (to the plant), but it was earlier this year.”
A couple of years out of high school, Lafferty joined the Army at the end of two-year enlistments being offered. He served in 1975 and 1976.
“They were still doing the draft, they were still doing the lottery, so you either waited and they put you where they wanted you or you enlisted and got to do what you wanted to do,” he said.
At that time, he said good jobs were hard to come by in Seymour and he was working at a gas station. Plus, his mother had just died.
“I thought, ‘Let’s join the Army. That will make a man out of you,’” he said, smiling.
He went through basic training at Fort Jackson in South Carolina and advanced individual training at Fort Knox in Kentucky before spending a year in Germany. He spent his time in an M60A1 tank.
Once he returned home and completed his two years of service, Lafferty worked for Clark’s Food Market for a couple of months before being hired by Pepsi. He spent his first 28 years in Seymour and has been at Austin ever since. He has been a truck driver for a while.
Lafferty is proud to have served the country, as he had two career Air Force uncles and his wife’s father also was in the Air Force and she had one uncle in the Coast Guard and another one in the Navy.
He’s also proud of what PepsiCo does for its employees who are veterans and remembers those who paid the ultimate sacrifice.
“The ones that died in action, the real heroes,” Lafferty said.