A Gift From Afghanistan

By Laurie Borst

It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon on August 27 when Sergeant First Class Michael Brown visited the Children’s Adventure Center on Riverside Road. With Sgt Brown was his wife, Mimi, and his children, Nicholas, age 7½, Michael, 5, and Margaret, 2.

Sgt Brown had brought a very special gift to present to the children and staff at the Adventure Center. Sgt Brown presented an American flag to teacher Nora Lundgren as the youngsters watched. The flag, which was brought from Newtown, had flown over FOB Ghazni, the US military base in Ghazni, Afghanistan, on September 11, 2006.

Nicholas and Michael Brown have both attended the Adventure Center. Michael was attending there last year, so the center knew all about his father’s deployment to Afghanistan with the 102nd Infantry of the Connecticut National Guard. The 102nd was providing security for the provincial reconstruction teams.

Sgt Brown wanted to present the flag to Adventure Center because students and staff had collected items for a care package to send to him. He thanked the children for caring enough to send the package and told them that he shared the items with others in his unit.

While the 102nd Infantry returned home this past May, many of their personal items were shipped home separately and took a long time to arrive. The flag was among those items shipped.

During his tour of duty, Sgt Brown was stationed in both Ghazni and Methar Lam, Afghanistan.