COLUMBIA (WACH) -- A South Carolina Flag from Operation Iraqi Freedom now hangs at the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Museum.
Saturday Mayor Steve Benjamin along with a host of others received the flag made in US Marine Corps camouflage fabric.
It was created by South Carolinians Capt. Michael Roberson, Gunnery Sergeant Jeffery L.O. Holliday, and Staff Sergeant Jason Motes in 2009 while stationed in Iraq as members of the Marine light attack helicopter squadron HMLA-167.
The group was inspired to create the flag after recognizing the anniversary of the Battle of Fort Sullivan in 1776.
“We mixed two of our favorite things, South Carolina and The Marines Corps,” says Gunnery Sergeant Jeffery Holliday.
The three originally planned to fly the flag in Iraq prior to the end of their duty, however, once the flag was completed, the Marines agreed that it was too precious to face the harsh Iraqi weather.
Instead it made its public debut at the first University of South Carolina football game of the 2009 season.
They then agreed to donate it to the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum on Columbia.
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