Thursday, February 21, 2008

Of Flags and Dragoons



Not quite Civil War vintage, but there's been a definite lack of color and pictures lately so I decided to mix it up a little. There's still a Civil War tie-in, of course. The 2nd U.S. Cavalry, currently designated as the 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, has been on continuous active service since 1836, and has a distinguished Civil War history. One of the great things about cavalry units specifically and army units in general is that traditions endure. Despite the redesignations in August 1861, for example, the regiment is still referred to internally as the Second Dragoons.

Versions of this flag have flown over regimental headquarters, wherever in the world that might be, for as far back as anyone that I've contacted can remember. While probably not historically accurate in design (see the excellent flag and guidon post over at Hoofbeats and Cold Steel that JD Petruzzi and Mike Nugent put together some months ago), it's a tradition that endures. This particular picture shows the flag being raised on September 13th of last year as the regiment settled in Baghdad for its second tour in Iraq.

There's just someting warming about seeing red and white cloth....

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Fantastic picture, Don!

History is alive and well with the horse soldiers. God bless 'em.

J.D.