GREENWOOD, Ind. – A Greenwood, Indiana man decided to something different with his lawn for the Fourth of July by creating a giant American flag to honor a student of his who died in Afghanistan.
Jimmy Waters graduated Whiteland Community High School in 2008 and later joined the Army. On July 1, 2011 he was killed in Afghanistan by an improvised explosive device.
Rob Merchant wanted to pay tribute to Waters because of the impact he had years ago his middle school wrestling team.
“I had a wrestler that was in middle school that wrestled for me and was an awesome kid, an inspiration to our team and then in 2011, he was in the military and was killed in Afghanistan,” Merchant told WTHR.
On a riding lawnmower, Merchant used his yard as giant canvas to meticulously cut an American flag and then spray paint all 50 stars.
He said that the American flag to him is about trying to do his best at everything in his life, something that Waters inspired him to do.
“The flag means be better. Be better today than you were yesterday. I want to be a better husband. I want to be a better dad. I want to be a better neighbor. I want to be a better friend. I want to be better tomorrow than I was today,” Merchant told WTHR.
