A Texas teenager has turned a bit of yard work into an impressive, touching tribute for a fallen friend.
Cameron James, 17, cut an American flag into the grass on his lawn, in honour of a close friend who died while serving with the U.S. Army in Arizona last month. He also timed it to honour American Independence Day.
James’s friend, Army Pfc. Kevin Christian, died by suicide at the age of 21, according to the Pima County chief medical examiner. Christian was deployed along the U.S.-Mexico border at the time.
James and Christian became friends through the Boy Scouts program several years ago.
“He was just a role model for me,” James told CNN affiliate KTVT outside his home in Haslet, Texas. “So I wanted to make sure he was missed by even the people who didn’t know him.”
James cut the American flag design using a lawnmower and a weed wacker. His little brother Daniel, 11, also helped out.
“Our mower has different settings, so I just changed the settings so the grass would be different lengths for the stripes,” James told NBC News. He added that the whole design took about four hours to create.
“It was a lot of work,” he said. “But it was worth it.”