SAN ANTONIO – The full length of Northwest Military Highway is now lined with American Flags from Loop 410 to Camp Bullis. Close to 150 volunteers spent Friday morning planting more than 5,000 flags. The flag-placing event is sponsored by the American Spirit Alliance, a nonprofit dedicated to support of the military. Friday marks the third year of the event.
"We've enjoyed them the past three years, so it's time to help," said Castle Hills resident Barbara Bertolett, who volunteered for the first time.
Volunteers from young to old, groups and families showed up to put in work.
"We're doing a sister thing," said volunteer Debbie Myers.
Myers and her sisters, whose father served in the military, believe planting the flags was a meaningful gesture.
"Especially these days," said Myers. "We feel like it is very important to show that we respect this flag and [the United States of] America."
"I'm just as excited as all the volunteers participating this year," said organizer Belinda Castro. "It's just a great thing that they're doing for our community."
The event is more than just a celebration of Independence Day. It is also a move to commemorate a part of San Antonio history. In the late 1930s and early 1940s, troops trekked on foot some 22 miles down the corridor that is now Northwest Military Highway from Fort Sam Houston to Camp Bullis for artillery training and then back again. That history was not lost on volunteer and Marine Thomas Villalobos.
"It's something that [residents] can drive along and see and know that they were given this right, this road, basically, because of those soldiers," said Villalobos.