Kind act reunites family with flag
A local family was reunited with a very special memento honoring their late relative’s service in the armed forces Wednesday at the Garland County Court House after a Hoxie woman found it sitting in a flea market.
Tech Sgt. Robert McGuiggan was
just two short years from retirement from the U.S. Air Force when he was involved in a tragic accident, leaving him in a coma for 23 years.
McGuiggan was a decorated soldier, and according to Col. Joe Wilson, he served with distinction. He was recognized numerous times for good conduct, impeccable work ethic and maintaining composure in highly stressful situations. In the nearly 19 years he served, he worked as a vehicle maintenance journeyman, fuel specialist and a later, a crew chief.
In 1991, on his daily commute home from Bergstrom Air Force Base in Austin, Texas, his vehicle was struck by a drunken driver. He spent the next 18 months in a Veterans Affairs Hospital in St. Cloud, Minn., until he was transferred to another hospital in Clear Water, Minn., where he remained, in a coma, until he died in 2015.
In the years McGuiggan spent in a coma, his family spent that time by his side, learning how to cope with the reality of the unfortunate circumstances. However, the family clung to the hope that he would wake up until the very end.
“My parents spent all their golden years taking care of him,” said McGuiggan’s sister, Tami Fason.
Two years after his accident, McGuiggan was retired with full military honors. Upon his retirement, his family received a framed and folded flag, serving as a symbol of the many years he spent serving his country. The flag was given to McGuiggian’s wife, who became estranged shortly after the accident, and the family thought that was the end of it.
Two months ago, U.S. Sen. John Boozman’s office contacted McGuiggan’s family in Hot Springs, and informed them they had found his flag. According to Fason, the flag must have started out in Austin, Texas, and somehow made its way to Walnut Ridge.
When Redda Russell learned McGuiggan’s flag was sitting in a flea market, she knew she had to find out where it belonged.
“Something like that should not be for sale in a flea market. I would absolutely die if (my family) lost anything like that,” said Russell.
Given Russell’s ties to the military, she took this mission to heart and set off to restore honor to McGuiggan’s flag. She used her contacts in the Air Force to locate McGuiggan’s family, and with a little help from Boozman’s office, the flag was returned during a special ceremony held Wednesday at the courthouse.
Both families were present during the ceremony, as well as members of Boozman’s staff and military personnel. A unique ceremony was constructed for the returning of the flag, since McGuiggan had already been retired with full military honors. Both families were moved by the entire experience, and plan to keep in contact in the future.
“I’m just so happy the Lord had it come to her, so we could get it back. I knew she had to have some type of military experience, because not everybody picks up something like that and thinks to return it,” said Fason.