[caption id=“attachment_11620” align=“alignleft” width=“750”]A word cloud based on the responses of nearly 500 people who signed the USO's Every Moment Counts flag. A word cloud based on the responses of nearly 500 people who signed the USO’s Every Moment Counts flag.[/caption]

Country. Served. Proud.

These are just some of the words that appeared most in an unscientific analysis of nearly 500 Every Moment Counts flag signers who shared their reasoning with us. The USO campaign earlier this year broke the Guinness World Record for most signatures on a flag with 115,405.

The flag will have a prominent place this weekend at Dover International Speedway during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA 400. It was officially unveiled at the Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati on Sept. 11, and again Sept. 13 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.

Here are a few of the hundreds of responses the we we received when we asked online signers to tell us why they put their names on the flag:

  • “[We signed] to be a part of history. To honor our military, both present and past.” -Mike and Sharai Coffey
  • “[I signed] for my dad, who can’t. He died in 2005, was the last WWII vet in our small town.” -Nikki Jennings
  • “As a veteran, I can’t begin to count the times the USO was there when I needed them. This was one small way to show current and future veterans that we once served and always serve! God bless the U.S. Armed Forces!” -Donald Cota

(Editors note: Submissions lightly edited for style)