American flag mowed into Texas lawn to honor soldier’s death near Mexico border

A Haslet, Texas, teenager mowed a giant American flag into his lawn Tuesday to honor a hometown soldier who died while serving near the Arizona-Mexico border, media outlets reported.

Cameron James, 17, told KTVT he cut the lawn in the image of the flag to honor his friend Kevin Christian, 21, according to CNN.

“He was just a role model for me,” James told the Dallas-Forth Worth TV station. “So I wanted to make sure he was missed by even the people who didn’t know him.”

Christian died last month from a self-inflicted gunshot wound while on a mission to secure the Mexico border in Arizona, according to The Associated Press.

James used different lawn mower settings to create the stripes and a weed eater to make 50 stars, KXAS reported.

“It was a lot of work,” James told KXAS. “But it was worth it.”

This story was originally published July 3, 2019 at 12:18 PM with the headline "American flag mowed into Texas lawn to honor soldier’s death near Mexico border."