ALBANY, GA (WALB) -
An Albany business owner, whose fight to keep his flag made national news, is flying a special flag today but with a heavy heart.
Shortly after Tom Geiryic's story came out, Sergeant First Class Riley Stephens of Texas sent him a flag from war torn Afghanistan to fly at his business.
It was his way of saying thanks. Sadly Sergeant Stephens was killed in action 2 days ago in Wardak. When Geiryic heard the news, he immediately honored the young hero by flying that flag at half staff.
Tom Gieryic never met Special Forces soldier, Riley Stephens, but felt as if he knew him.
"It is sad, it is kind of like you lost a brother, even though I didn't meet him, I did a lot of talking to him, and did a lot of talking with his dad," says Tom Gieryic, Gieryic's Automotive Repair.
Saturday afternoon, Gieryic's daughter told him that Stephens unit was ambushed while on patrol in Afghanistan. He was shot and killed.
"She said daddy, I need your help, we need to put it up at half staff, and then her next sentence was Riley got shot yesterday and killed," says Gieryic.
Geiryic received national support from Stephens after hearing about his fight with code enforcement to fly his American flag.
"They put their life on line to protect that flag and what it stands for, he just thought it was really crappy that someone would tell me where I could fly my flag, or call my flag a sign, he just took offense to the whole thing, couldn't believe that they initially wrote me a ticket for it," says Gieryic.
Geiryic was cited in March for having a flag in front of his business. Code enforcement said it violated the sign ordinance and encroachment on a right of way. But the city reduced those to warnings.
"He was over in Afghanistan and actually seen the story air, he called me, I don't know how he got my phone number, but he called me and told me that he wanted to send that battle flag," says Gieryic.
Stephens had received it for heroic actions and kept it close to his heart.
"He would fold that flag up and keep it under his body armor everyday that he went out and he just said he wanted me to have his flag, I mean we didn't know each other nothing at all," says Gieryic.
And now the flag that had remained folded in Geiryic's home, is now flying at half staff in memory of not just a fallen soldier, but a friend.
Stephen's body is on the way home to Texas where his family lives. Geiryic hopes to be able to attend the funeral.
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