With the support of Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa and Rep. Tom Latham, R-Iowa, one Iowa man’s idea has made it all the way to Capitol Hill.

With a bill passed Oct. 16, U.S. Army veteran Sgt. Bill Kendall of Jefferson will now be known as the man who created the nation’s Medal of Honor flag.

The Medal of Honor is the U.S. armed services’ highest award for valor in action against an enemy force.

Now, all recipients of the medal will also receive a flag.

“I thought [the recipients] needed some credit,” Kendall said.

Grassley, agreed.

“The Medal of Honor is reserved for the bravest of our fighting men and women,” he said.

“Obviously the medal in and of itself is the most important demonstration of that, but an individual being able to fly a flag daily to show how they’ve been honored for the sacrifice they’ve made is an additional public display that I thought was legitimate.”

Kendall said he got the idea for the flag 10 years ago, when he was working on the military’s honor roll in Greene County.

During his work, Kendall said he realized Darrell Lindsey, a Jefferson native and recipient of the Medal of Honor, wasn’t on the list.

Lindsey, a B-26 pilot in World War II, was awarded the medal for a 1944 bombing raid where he sacrificed his life to save his crew.

“I thought we should do something special for him,” Kendall said.

Kendall designed the flag to fly on Memorial Day over a statue of Lindsey, which sits at the Greene County Courthouse.

Much to Kendall’s surprise, when Latham spoke in Jefferson on Memorial Day 2001, the Congressman liked the flag.

“[Latham] introduced a bill proposing this be the official Medal of Honor flag,” he said.

The bill was included in the Department of Defense package, which passed in the House at the end of June.

Grassley said the bill is currently awaiting approval by President Bush.

Though the U.S. Department of Defense will eventually be responsible for distributing the flags, the U.S. Medal of Honor Society has appropriated funds to provide the 143 living Medal of Honor recipients with a flag, Kendall said.

Michael Dale, president of the ISU College Republicans, said he thinks adding a flag to the medal adds more honor to the award.

“I support Latham and Grassley on this move,” he said. “I think it’s a matter of our Iowa politicians taking a break from D.C. and doing something extra special for Iowa.”

Latham said he is proud of Kendall for designing the flag.

“This flag truly represents the recipients of this medal,” Latham said in a press release. “They are the people that make this nation the land of the free and home of the brave.”

Kendall is a winner of the Silver Star, three Bronze Stars and three Purple Hearts. He said he doesn’t need any recognition for designing the flag.

“I’ll leave that up to Congress, Mr. Latham, and Mr. Grassley,” he said.

“I was kind of just the little piece of sand on the bottom. It takes a lot of people to get something like this accomplished.”