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VETERAN SAYS THANKS WITH SMALL FOLDED FLAG

IN A SHADOW BOX -- Folding the flags, he learned

to use his hands again, and he said he found

a way to honor other veterans.

 

 

Be sure to watch the video at the link below.

Story here... http://www.thekansascitychannel
.com/news/13447192/detail.html

Story below:

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Veteran Says Thanks With Folded Flags

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A man who has devoted his life to serving the United States will say thanks in a special way this week at Kansas City's Union Cemetery.

The cemetery turns 150 years old. Many of the thousands buried there are veterans.

Sgt. 1st Class Randy Sandy said he doesn't know them, but they are bound by their service.

Sandy makes small shadow boxes with small flags inside.

"It's a sense of giving someone something," Sandy told KMBC's Donna Pitman.

Sandy said his work is truly a labor of love.

"I love doing it , you know," Sandy said.

Sandy said using his hands is something he thought he he might never be able to do again.

"From the time I took the anthrax shots to getting to Walter Reed, I had lost 60 pounds," Sandy said. "I spent 12 weeks at Walter Reed and was a quad at the time."

Sandy survived Vietnam. It was in Afghanistan that Sandy was injured.

"This was in April of 2004. Someone gave me a flag on a stick," Sandy said. "It took me a long time and a lot of folds to get that one flag."

Folding those flags, Sandy said he learned to use his hands again, and he said he found a way to honor other veterans.

"You kind of look at people and can tell the ones who will appreciate it and the ones that won't," Sandy said.

This weekend, Sandy will give his handmade shadow boxes to veterans and their families at Union Cemetery.

"I give them to soldiers who've done a fantastic job. To my son to give to his leaders," Sandy said.

Sandy's son left Tuesday to begin his third tour of duty in Iraq.

"It comes from my heart, you know. A lot of my heart is in patriotism in that flag in there" Sandy said.

Pitman reported that Sandy takes part in events to honor veterans year-round.

He said he takes his shadow boxes with him and always leaves empty-handed.

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Larry Scott  --