U.S. Navy Lt. Kenneth  Roberts

Flags with the names of veterans lined the Newport Avenue Bridge in Bend on Wednesday for Flag Day. Diana and Ken Roberts stood below No. 7, the flag with their son’s name on it: U.S. Navy Lt. Kenneth Roberts.

It fluttered in the wind, as Diana Roberts clutched a photo of him and held it close.

The couple’s son died at the age of 25 in 1992. He was sitting in the backseat of an A6 prowler twin engine Navy jet and had crashed during training at El Centro Naval Air Station in California. According to his father, he hated being in the back seat, but it was part of the routine to let others have their turn in the cockpit.

His flag was added to the bridge, also known as the Veterans Memorial Bridge, during the Flag Day ceremony, organized by the Bend Heroes Foundation. The flags were up from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.

“This is very special,” Diana Roberts said. “I didn’t realize that the flags in Bend have names of the veterans … Talking about him makes me teary. It’s hard still, but he would have been thrilled that they are doing this.”

Kenneth Roberts grew up in Bend and went to Oregon State University on a Navy scholarship after graduating from Mountain View High School. His parents remember when he got his wings in Corpus Christi, Texas, and the unexpected love he had for the Navy.

“He was a very special person and young man,” Ken Roberts said. “We didn’t know he wanted to go in the Navy, but he signed up because he wanted to fly.”

Dick Tobiason, chairman of the Bend Heroes Foundation, organized the ceremony and has done this for 18 years. Each flag flown in Bend came straight from the U.S. Capitol.

“Flag Day is about America,” said Tobiason, a retired Army lieutenant colonel and Vietnam War veteran, “celebrating the birth of a nation and a symbol that is known all over the world.”

Tobiason said that Flag Day offers another layer of respect and honor for veterans and focuses his work to help build up community support for the veterans in Bend.

Diana Roberts reached out to Tobiason on June 3, shortly after the flags had been out for Memorial Day. She was speaking with a friend and didn’t know that the names of veterans were on the flags displayed. She talked with Tobiason and told him all about her son, wondering if she could get a flag for him. Tobiason found two extra flags and felt it was only right Kenneth Roberts have his own. He thought Flag Day would be the perfect day to commemorate his service.

On Wednesday, the ceremony began with Tobiason honoring Kenneth Roberts and saying the Pledge of Allegiance. Deschutes County Commissioner Patti Adair read President Biden’s proclamation on Flag Day and national flag week.

The Mountain View Cadet Corps., which is sponsored by the Navy, installed Kenneth Roberts’ flag and led his parents up the bridge. Tears rolled down Diana Roberts’ cheeks as she looked up at the flag while her husband embraced her.

“It’s important to remember the people who gave their lives to the service,” Diana Roberts said.

When installing the flags, Tobiason asked the Mountain View Cadets to put them in gently and to say the names of the veterans out loud to show their respect.

He will continue to put up flags around Bend that have veterans spanning from World War II, the Korean War and beyond. A total of 250 flags have been put up.

“It’s not the number of flags that matters,” Tobiason said. “It’s what the flag means.”