Locally based National Guard battalion donates American flag to W.F. West High School

A longtime Veterans Day assembly tradition at W.F. West High School got some new life this year with a special donation from a community partner on Tuesday, the Chehalis School District announced in a news release.

The Washington National Guard Recruiting and Retention Battalion, which is based out of the Centralia Armory, donated a 12-foot-by-20-foot American flag to the Chehalis high school. A large-sized flag is one of the centerpieces of W.F. West's annual Veterans Day.

During a drill by Bearcat cheer squad members, the flag is marched in, unfolded and presented and a description of the flag's symbolism is read.

At last year's Veterans Day assembly, freshman transition specialist Adrian Jimenez, an Army veteran, noticed that the flag the high school was using had many signs of wear that signal it may need to be retired.

National Guard Staff Sergeant Nicole Ridley said when she heard about the state of the high school's flag, which is used during other events during the year in addition to Veterans Day, she started working on a plan to retire the old flag and replace it with a new version.

"The National Guard is a community-based military and our first mission is to protect Washington state," Ridley said. "Our motto is 'live here, serve here,' so we're just lending a helping hand and support to our community wherever we can.”

Ridley is a new National Guard recruiter in Lewis County and frequents the W.F. West campus. She grew up in Oakville and when she was a high school junior, she was saved by National Guard members during the 2007 flood.

That experience led her to want to join the National Guard, and she hopes to create positive interactions with students that might similarly inspire them to join.

"Above all else, I'd like to be an approachable entity and be a leader and a female role model for youth in our community," Ridley said.

During Tuesday's Veterans Day assembly at W.F. West, members of a Washington National Guard honor guard received the high school's old flag, which will be retired. They then presented the school with the new, donated flag, which was used during the assembly.

"I just love that the traditions are continuing with another generation of students coming up who are going to enter military service and this flag is a symbol of the renewal of that tradition," said W.F. West Principal Regina Carr.