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Title: Banners commemorate service, sacrifice of military personnel
Source:
fayobserver.com
URL Source: http://www.fayobserver.com/articles/2011/05/29/1096553?sac=Mil
Published: May 29, 2011
Author: Michael Zennie
Post Date: 2011-05-29 06:16:46 by Ferret Mike
Keywords: None
Views: 215
SPRING LAKE - In high school, Crystal Hagler never cared much for home economics classes. She was much more likely to out-swim, out-dive or outrun the boys in her class than sew a set of potholders. She still can't cook. But for the past two months, Hagler has found herself routinely staying up until 3 or 4 in the morning, bent over a sewing machine or carefully cutting and piecing together strips of fabric. Hagler, a 35-year-old Army wife and a mother of four, makes handcrafted, personalized service banners that commemorate the service - and the sacrifice - of American military personnel. Manufacture of the red, white and blue banners is regulated by the U.S. Army Institute of Heraldry. And Hagler is among only about a dozen certified service banner makers in the country - and the only one in North Carolina. From her Spring Lake home, Hagler has sewn more than 30 gold star and blue star banners and shipped them to families across the country. Service banners became a standard for the U.S. military in 1967 as a way for families, friends, employers, clubs and fraternities to show their support for American service members. Their origin, however, dates to World War I. Banners with blue stars mark a loved one who is deployed. Silver star banners go to wounded or ill military personnel. Gold stars mark service members who have been killed. Each banner takes Hagler about four hours to complete. She uses an embroidery machine to stitch the service member's name and branch of service. Around each 10-by-18-inch banner, which she makes in a standard proportion mandated by the Army, Hagler sews a unique border. She then stuffs each one with thin quilt batting so it is more substantial and will hang better. "I haven't come across anybody who makes them by hand," she said. "Most of the banners are just nylon." She adds her personal touch to each one she makes. Each strip must be exactly straight; the fabric strips must be pieced together perfectly. If the corners are not perfectly square, she rips out the stitches and starts again. A popular pattern that she uses for the background fabric includes American flags. Hagler said she cuts the cloth to make sure all the flags are right-side up, facing the same way and lined up. "I call it 'conforming to policy,' " said Hagler, who served nine years in the Marines and was deployed to Iraq in 2006 with the Army Reserves. Hagler is originally from Indiana. She moved to Spring Lake in 2003 with her husband, Sgt. 1st Class Ted Hagler, for an assignment in the 82nd Airborne Division. The sewing is all self-taught. She works on a sewing machine her husband bought years ago to sew insignia on his uniform. She started sewing only a few months ago because she needed a hobby to keep her busy when her two young children napped in the middle of the day or went to bed, she said. She learned in high school but hadn't really touched a sewing machine since. "I would never have imagined myself sewing," she said. But she dove in head first with the service banners because it's rewarding work, she said. "Her husband is deployed. Her husband is getting deployed. This one is two brothers who are serving; it's for their mother," she said as she flipped through photos of the banners on her Facebook page. Each one has a story and she tries to make banners that reflect that, Hagler said. She stopped on a photo of the gold star banner she made for Marine Sgt. Frank J. World after the Buffalo, N.Y.-native was killed in Afghanistan last year. The banner has a permanent place on a table in his mother's home, next to a photo of the Marine and his dress uniform cap. "That one still gives me chills," she said. Hagler charges $20 plus shipping for blue star banners. Gold star banners for the families of fallen service members are free. All of the money she takes in goes to a different military aid group, she said. Last month, she donated $420 to Project Care Packages. That means all of the money for fabric comes out of her own pocket. She currently has more than 40 banners on order. Hagler said she could use help covering the cost of fabric and supplies, since she doesn't keep any of the proceeds from the banners. Donations of fabric or cash would help her continue to make the banners, she said. Hagler can be reached my email at bluestarbanners@gmail.com or through her Facebook page at facebook.com/ MilitaryBlueStarBanners. Staff writer Michael Zennie can be reached at zenniem@fayobserver.com or (910) 486-3583.
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