On August 12, 2023 my world was shattered when my little brother, Chad, passed away. Chad was a Naval Aviator who was living his dream life. The world looks a little bit darker without my little brother in it. Everything that I thought about my future changed with one phone call..

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Who was going to be the Best Man at my wedding someday? Who was going to be the Fun-Uncle to my future kids? I was and still am lost. The Navy did their routine, “I’m sorry for your loss,” but it was tailored towards my parents. At this moment, I came to realize that the military was missing a critical piece to the death notification process. As a sibling, there are no protocols in place to help with the grieving process. Though time went on, I got more irritated at the fact that not one Navy Personnel asked me if I needed anything. I mean, I’m just the brother, right? 

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Operation Flags From Chad was created on the foundational beliefs that the siblings of fallen service members deserve to be recognized and thanked for sacrifice of their sibling. As someone who has gone through this nightmare, I couldn’t just sit back and watch this happen to someone else. Our mission and goal at Operation Flags From Chad is to make sure that no Gold Star Sibling goes through this alone. When we lose an active-duty service member, our goal will be to deliver a wooden flag, handmade by me, to the siblings of the fallen. While presenting these flags, I will tell these new Gold Star Siblings, “Thank You For Your Sacrifice” because the service members weren’t the only ones who gave something up. 

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We may be a new foundation, but our goal is to give a flag to every Gold Star Sibling in the future. When we sell a flag, this money is to help fund our mission at the foundation. 

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Thank you for all of your support!

- Andrew