January 21, 2000

Contact Pauline Austin (541) 346-3129

More than half the officers in charge of the Oregon National Guard’s 2nd Batallion Charlie Company are concealing webbed feet under their combat boots–three are UO alumni, another is a UO student. But the boots will come off this week-end. Charlie Company, headquartered in Eugene, is leaving in a few days for a four-month mission in Kuwait, and they’re taking the Fighting Duck with them–on a flag that will fly over headquarters until the mission ends. The plan was hatched when an Army National Guard advance team scouting Camp Doha in Kuwait spotted several University of Arkansas Razorback flags flying high. "When we saw those Razorback flags everywhere, we knew we had to take a Duck Flag with us," says Charlie Company’s 1st Lt. Chris Graves. Negotiations were opened with the UO and the flag was secured. "We’re proud that the Fighting Duck will add a little bit of home to the National Guard’s stay in Kuwait," says Dan Rodriguez, Executive Director of the UO Alumni Association. The Fighting Duck himself will present the flag at 11 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 23 at the National Guard Armory, 2514 Centennial Blvd., Eugene. Contact: Kathy Bedbury, Associate Executive Director, UO Alumni Association (541) 346-2102; e-mail kbedbury@darkwing.uoregon.edu or 1st Lt. Chris Graves, (541) 686-7574 (work), (541) 344-2326 (home).