By LINDA KELLETT

C-S-E News Staff

FORT PLAIN — He wanted to give something back.

Afghan War veteran James Peck Jr., a staff sergeant in the New York Army National Guard, was on hand at American Legion Post 554 of Fort Plain Tuesday night with a special gift: A neatly folded American flag.

Home now for about two weeks, the 1999 Fonda-Fultonville graduate and son of James and Carol Peck of Sprakers, said, “I’ve always been a member at this club. They pretty much ask about me when I’m gone.”

Wanting show his appreciation for the local post’s support, he bought a flag at the base’s PX and flew it in the war-torn nation during his recent deployment there.

Terry Hudson, senior vice for the Sons of the American Legion group, said Peck’s flag flew in two different spots in the country. “He brought the flag back and wants to donate it to his local post.”

Clean-shaven, dressed in fatigues and looking every inch a soldier, Peck was on hand at the Webster Street site to present the flag to post Commander Bob Reilly, who accepted it with appreciation.

“Thank you for the flag, and thank you for your service,” Reilly said.

Others present for the dedication included Drew Fisher, commander of the Sons; Shirley Coleman, the president of the Ladies Auxiliary; Hudson; and James’ grandfather, Korean War veteran Winford Peck, also of Sprakers.

“I usually stop in and see my grandfather,” James Peck said. “It’s a great honor to fly the flag and to give it to them.”

“It means the world to me,” Winford Peck said with quiet emotion. “He’s an awful good boy.”

James Peck said he joined the Fort Plain veterans’ post in 1999, right after he joined the Marine Corps. While a Marine, he served in the Philippines, Thailand and Japan. He was on active duty with that branch of the service from Dec. 6, 1999, to Dec. 6, 2003.

Currently on leave, he goes back to his full-time job with the New York National Guard Counter-Drug Task Force on Oct. 24.

The young veteran said he felt people were supportive. “My wife, Karlene, ran the [unit’s] Family Readiness Group. She was a key leader for that, and she organized fundraisers and sent care packages to E Company 427 BSB out of Glenville,” he said.

He and his wife have a nearly one-year old daughter, Hailey.

Coleman said a local woman connected with the post also sent care packages to Afghanistan once a month. She said the woman “sent it to the guys in [Peck’s] unit, and he distributed it to others.”

She said the men of the post kept track of where Peck was.

“It’s a great thing that he did. It’s wonderful,” she said of his presentation.