WAKEFIELD—Sgt. Jayton Patterson gave his life for his country on Jan. 15, 2005, and he has not been forgotten.

At the church of which he was a member, Millfield Baptist, the congregation has built a memorial, which includes a plaque honoring him. It is placed under the flag pole in front of the church.

And on Friday, Jan. 15, 2010, about 60 relatives and friends attended a ceremony at which a flag was raised in his memory on the same flag pole.

“It was such a touching tribute,” said Jayton’s mother, Sharon. “And we appreciate so much the love and comfort that has been given to us ever since our son was killed.

The flag, designed especially for veterans killed in all branches of the service, bears the words, Honor and Remember. At the bottom is Jayton’s name.

Sharon said this flag was raised in honor of Jayton, who was killed in Iraq, but it would be taken down at the end of the day and replaced with one that did not have a veteran’s name, as it would honor all of the fallen.

The organization, Honor and Remember Inc., was founded by George A. Lutz, who also lost a son in Iraq.

Speaking at the flag-raising ceremony, Lutz said after his son died, he began looking around for symbols that honored fallen service men and women..

“I could find nothing,” he said, “so I began working toward creating a national symbol.

“I thought a flag would be appropriate,” he said. “This would be something that every one would recognize.”

He said the flag was created signifying the loss of life of a service person.

“The red and white means the sacrifice of blood shed defending our country and the purity of that sacrifice.

“The blue star goes back to WW I and means that the family displaying it has someone in the service overseas. The gold star topping the blue means that the service person died serving his country.

“The folded flag underneath the star is universal — it means that a life has been lost.”

Lutz said the flag was brought to the attention of the public at a ceremony in Norfolk in 2008. Since then, it has been adopted by a number of organizations, but has not yet been designated as a national symbol by the government.

“We are asking people to sign a petition asking our government to make this flag something the entire country will recognize,” Lutz said.

Honor and Remember has a Web site, www.HonorandRemember.org, where the petition may be signed.