National Flag Truck
Rolls Into Egg Festival
The town of Pittsfield, Maine had a piece of American history hi-railed into town this July to help celebrate the 25th Annual Central Maine Egg Festival. The National Flag Truck made its grand entrance into Pittsfield on Guilford Rail’s tracks next to the town’s Rail Depot Museum. With its lights flashing and “God Bless America” playing over its 1,000 watt sound system, the Flag Truck delivered three commemorative flags, each measuring 45 by 90 feet.
The 34-foot long Truck was recently modified with hi-rail equipment to be used as a liaison of goodwill between the Trucking and Rail industries. Part of the Truck’s mission until its decommissioning in 1999 will be to help to promote the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Railroad and Highway Safety programs.
The truck carries an historic collection of five 300 lb., 45 by 90 foot American Flags which are stored under guard by the United States Navy aboard the U.S.S. Constitution. The flags are stored and shipped in a 900 lb cherry chest. The Truck has attended over 600 official ceremonies worldwide, clocked over 600,000 miles through four White House administrations, and led an historic 14,000 mile over-the-road winter expedition to the Arctic Circle.
The crew which worked to get the National Flag Truck on the rails were GMX Truck Driver Dennis Nelson, Track Supervisor Scott Dyer and Safety Representative Walt Zaccadelli. At the Trucks’ welcoming ceremony Zaccadelli talked to a crowd of approximately 100 people about Maine’s Operation Lifesaver and staying safe around the tracks.
The flags are flown with the President, at official affairs of state and at national dedications. This specially designed and identified rig has carried the flags to ceremonies in all 50 states and has represented the United States in nine foreign countries. In commemorating D-Day, on June 6, 1994 it became the first American truck to pass under the English Channel (London to Paris) through the Channel Tunnel.
During the festival the Mount Rushmore Flag; a Battle of the Bulge commemorative flag; and a flag in honor of the North Pole Expedition were unfurled. Hundreds of people, from small children to elderly war veterans, helped unroll the flags. One at a time, the flags were spread out across Pittsfield’s Manson Park. More than 30,000 people turned out over the weekend for the annual festival
Although all the flags are official government property, the National Flag Exhibit takes pride in the fact that there is no government funding or taxpayer money involved at all.
The Mount Rushmore Flag was hoisted upward by a massive crane and flew over the festival, providing much needed relief from the 90 degree heat.