Addie McCluskey
Elmore Autauga News
A quiet but meaningful moment of gratitude unfolded in Prattville, April 11, 2026, when Jamie Popwell, founder and president of Flags for Vets, stopped at the home of Brent Deaver to install a flagpole, an act of service rooted in healing, remembrance, and appreciation for those who have served.
Flags for Vets began in 2017 after Popwell returned to Auburn following a lifetime of service. A former U.S. Marine in the 1980s, Popwell went on to serve as a police officer, narcotics agent, member of a Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team, and later as a security contractor in Iraq, Africa, and Afghanistan. After years in some of the most demanding environments imaginable, raising the American flag became one of the first things he felt compelled to do when he finally returned home.
“I was angry at the world,” said Popwell. “I didn’t want to talk to people, be around anybody, or any crowds, just what most guys experience with PTSD [Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder]… so when we moved back, I thought ‘Well, I need to put my flagpole up’ because it’s not like I don’t have the time on my hands.”
After installing his own flagpole and sharing it on Facebook, friends, family, and neighbors began reaching out, asking for help putting up their own. In the process, Popwell uncovered something that would change the direction of his life’s work. While installing flagpoles, he learned that a longtime neighbor of his parents, someone he had known for decades, was a Korean War veteran. That moment sparked an idea: to begin installing flagpoles specifically for veterans.
“It’s kind of a ministry for me, too, in a way,” said Popwell. “It helps me with my healing process, and that’s where it got started.”
In his first year after launching Flags for Vets, Popwell installed 200 flagpoles across 17 states, traveling wherever he was needed. Though he once set his sights on maintaining that pace, reduced sponsorships and a cancer diagnosis he later overcame changed what was possible. Still, he has continued steadily, averaging about 100 installations a year.
“It’s a very, very simple, but pure gesture,” said Popwell. “I feel like everyone who served understands the significance of the flag and deserves one of their own. It is the least I could do.”
Popwell has traveled as far as California, Texas, Colorado, and Utah to install flagpoles for veterans who were retired, honorably discharged, or medically discharged. The only requirement is a recommendation from someone else.
“The ripple effect to this is in the thousands,” said Popwell. “I journal about every single veteran that I do this for in my little green book.”
He explained that each installation represents more than just a flagpole. It represents a story. He has now heard the experiences of over 700 veterans, each one leaving an impression that continues to shape his mission. In sharing those stories and showing up for veterans across the country, he has also inspired others to donate, sponsor, lend a hand, or spread the word so more veterans, like Deavers, can be reached.
“I started looking on Amazon at the prices and stuff,” said Deavers. “It was about three or four hundred dollars for a flagpole, and then I thought, ‘Why don’t they do something for veterans?’ I did a quick Google search and came across this organization.”
With prior service in the U.S. Navy and Alabama Air National Guard and a recommendation from his wife, Deavers became the 784th recipient of Flags for Vets, an opportunity that he believes more should know about.
“This was not about me,” said Deavers. “It was about wanting to share this story with the community, so others could be blessed with this, too. God did not create blessings for us to hold them in and be selfish with them, but to share them and spread them out, so they can bless others.”
To sponsor, donate, or learn more about Flags for Vets, visit https://flagsforvets.us/.
