Sgt. 1st Class Glenn Myers watched a nation being born during 2008.
As a soldier with the Army National Guard, Myers was in Kosovo when the country declared its freedom on Feb. 18, 2008.
"I was there on their streets and watched," Myers said. "It was cold, and it didn't faze them. They were free, and they were very proud."
Myers, 51, left a lot in the Balkans - school supplies for terribly poor children, new operating procedures for an Army ammunition holding area and new friends./div>But Myers said that at the end of the nine-month tour, he brought home even more than he gave, including an abiding respect for Kosovars.
"They just opened up their arms and hearts to us," he said.
He also brought home a piece of Kosovar history, one of the few flags unfurled for the independence day. The flag was given to Myers by a man who asked him to take it home to "thank the American people for me," he said.
In the ramp up to independence, the Kosovar government had kept secret the design of the new country's flag. Meanwhile, Kosovar people continued flying the Albanian and American flags, which honored their ethnic strength and their international supporters.
A few new Kosovo flags were provided to each town and village to fly on the independence day. The handmade flag is a field of blue with a carefully stenciled yellow shape of Kosovo below an arch of six white stars that represent the country's ethnic groups.
The flag will be on display at the Peter Yegen Jr. Yellowstone County Museum "from the people of Kosovo to the people of Montana," Myers said.
Myers was deeply moved by many of the Kosovars he met. So much so, in fact, Myers said he found it difficult to leave Kosovo because he wanted to help them more.
If he has a specific regret, it is that he hadn't yet found a way to help Flakore Zefi, who worked in a souvenir shop on base. Tall and lean, she was nicknamed Flaca (Spanish for "skinny") by the soldiers. Myers said she reminded him of his daughter.
Flaca wants to study business in America and return to Kosovo to help boost her country's economy. Like most Kosovars, the young woman is poor but full of heart, Myers said. Her sister also has a job on base.
"They are saving all their little pennies hoping to go to university," he said.
Myers, of Billings, has been in the Army for more than 20 years. When he was told he would deploy in July 2007, he figured he would be sent to the Middle East. Instead, he was attached the 35th Infantry Division and sent to the Balkans, where NATO is leading peacekeeping. After training in Indiana and Germany, he was posted at Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo for nine months and returned home in July 2008.
When Myers was deployed, Kosovo, with its ethnic Albanian majority, was poised the declare independence from Serbia, which opposed the split because the Serbians consider Kosovo the birthplace of their civilization. The Russians, traditional Serbian allies, oppose separatist movements around the region.
Although Kosovo - a nation about the size of Montana's Garfield County - could have become a war zone, Myers said he felt safe among the people.
"The danger wasn't from Kosovar people, but from outside of Kosovo," he said. "It was nothing like what our men and women go through in Iraq and Afghanistan."
Myers worked with American and NATO forces. He was selected to train with the Germans and earned the Schutzenschnur Gold medal for marksmanship.
In Kosovo, Myers was an accountability officer who oversaw the largest ammunition holding areas in the Balkans theatre. Myers received the Army's Meritorious Service Medal.
He also helped teach Kosovars to avoid unexploded ordnance. Six children and two adults were killed by such rounds while Myers was in Kosovo. People know the ordnance is dangerous, but they are so poor that money earned from selling bronze and unexpended rounds is worth risk of injury.
Visiting schools was a highlight for Myers, who with his colleagues established the Adopt a School program out of Camp Bondsteel.
Myers was able to take the children and the schools things they needed, thanks to friends, family and members of VFW Post 1534 and its Auxiliary.
Delivering supplies was like Christmas, Myers said. His sister's donation of a microscope brought tears to a teacher's eyes, Myers said.
"They want to learn, they want to know things," he said.
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