Jared Schmeltzer
Reporter
A Redding, CA native, 15-year old Preston Sharp made a trip to Merrill on Thursday, Sept. 26.
Sharp is known for Veterans Flags and Flowers, an organization he started in 2015 to honor veterans everyday.
Sharp’s grandfather was one of the first employees to work for California-based Sierra Pacific Windows and the family still stays in touch with the company. Sharp called Sierra Pacific on his way to an event in Minnesota and set up a meeting with local veteran groups in Merrill as well as Medford.
Sharp began his organization after Veterans Day in 2015, when he went to visit his grandfather’s grave to set up a flag and flowers. During the visit, Preston noticed that there were many veteran graves without flags and that upset him greatly. It then became his mission to put as many flags and flowers on veterans graves as possible. Shortly after he began his mission, word would spread quickly, with Sharp even visiting former President Barrack Obama at the White House. To-date Sharp has laid out over 200,000 flags and flowers on veteran graves all over the country.
Sharp’s 2019 initiative is the prevention and awareness of veteran suicide. To learn more or to donate to the cause, visit prestonsharp.net.