INDIANAPOLIS - A soldier's young child received his father's military flag in a ceremony Friday afternoon. It's a story of separation, tragedy and a little boy connecting with a father he never knew.
"He knew he'd have to go back. He just didn't know it would be the day our son was born, that he'd have to miss the birth and to be able to hold and see him and that upset him," said Jennifer Dresslar, five-year-old Austin Dan's mother.
It was Sgt. Corey Dan's second tour of duty in Iraq, months before his girlfriend, Dresslar, became pregnant. On the day his son was born, Corey, a member of the 101st Airborne, based in Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, left for Iraq.
"He thanked me all the time for sending him pictures and keeping him updated on Austin, letting him see his son grow and then his mom got word he died," Dresslar said.
"He was driving a Humvee with heavy arms in a small convoy and an IED went off underneath him," said Wanda Dan-Kilgore, the soldier's mother.
In March 2006, Sgt. Dan was buried at his parents' home in Maine. He never saw the birth of his son and he never signed Austin's birth certificate. Jennifer had to prove to the military that Austin was Corey's son. When the military was convinced, she asked for one more thing.
"I thought, as Corey's son, he deserved a flag from his dad," Dresslar said.
Jennifer said she had to wade thru five years of military red tape, but on Friday, Austin got his father's flag in a formal military ceremony.
"He would have grown up well with his son. He would have. He was all about being a dad," Dan-Kilgore said.
"From the army, we present you this flag in memory of your father's service to the army and to our country. This is your flag to keep," a presenter said to young Austin.
With that, Austin ran inside his home with his flag.
"The little stream that comes out of jets, he says that's his daddy drawing him pictures. He blows his daddy kisses every night and tells him he loves him," Dresslar said.
Sgt. Dan was only 22 when he was killed near Ramadi. He'd only been in Iraq for three months.
