'Flags to Remember:' Kent man makes wooden memorials for fallen officers



KENT, Wash. -- A local man has taken it upon himself to honor fallen law enforcement officers. He makes wooden flags; each one is unique, but the meaning behind them is the same.

Inside his Kent garage, Noel Greany hopes to celebrate and preserve the memories of those who serve and protect.

"Each one takes approximately three to three-and-a-half hours," he said.

He began this side project, Flags to Remember, after the death of Kent Police Officer Diego Moreno in 2018.

"When I made the one for Diego I dropped it off at the Kent Police station and then ran, but I do think they appreciate the work that goes into this," he said. "It's handmade, it's unique. It's something other than a postcard or a letter; it's something that comes from a lot of hard work. I guess I think they know that, they appreciate that."

Greany recently made one for the family of Kittitas County Sheriff's Deputy Ryan Thompson, who was shot and killed in the line of duty last week.

"When I'm burning it, when I'm sanding it down, when I'm touching it up I do kind of think about who it's going to," he said.

Greany makes the flags for fallen officers around the nation.

"It's someone's husband, wife, son, daughter," he said. "I mean, these people, if they pass, they pass and it's because they were doing their job."