For third-generation Air Force veteran Sean Coggin, decorating for the Fourth of July is more than a holiday tradition — it is a tribute to a legacy of sacrifice. This year, his deeply personal display of patriotism took center stage when his front porch and yard won first place in the town’s local holiday decorating contest, perfectly marking America’s 250th milestone.

Always creative, Coggin was highly motivated to serve in the Air Force, blending his personal goals with a deep sense of duty. While enlisting provided the practical financial means to pursue his passion for art, his primary inspiration was continuing his family’s proud military heritage.

Coming from a long line of military service, his mother was a Captain in the Air Force as a nurse, and his father retired as MSgt/USAF after serving 20 years which included serving three tours in Vietnam. He was also in Operation Desert Shield as the Chief of Supply for CENTCOM (Central Command) Headquarters at McDill AFB, with General Norman Schwarzkopf as his boss. His grandfather retired after 30 years in the USAF as a Command Pilot, test pilot, and worked in the Pentagon among other things. His grandfather gave the oath of enlistment to his father in 1969. In addition, that same grandfather swore him in when he joined USAF in 1998-a memory he cherishes. Coggin has another grandfather who was in the Army Air Corps for six years, serving in the Pacific. Many other relatives served in the Navy and Marines.

Coggin served two tours in Saudi Arabia and three tours in Iraq with a total of 12 years of active duty from 1998 to 2010. Deployed in 2000 to Eskan Village, Saudi Arabia from the 75th Security Forces Squadron, Coggin later became a basic military training instructor for the 324th Training Squadron.

In commemoration of prisoners of war or missing in action, or killed in action, is the “Missing Man Table.”

After a few years, he went back to security services for his three tours in Iraq and was part of one of the largest helicopter movements since Vietnam. Coggin was part of the 37th Security Forces Squadron before a deployment to Camp Bucca, Iraq in 2005 as well as deployment to an undisclosed location for a year before returning to Camp Bucca in 2007. He finished his military career at the Francis E. Warren Air Force Base which currently serves as a major command center for the U.S. Air Force’s Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) forces. Warren is a Civil War hero, Wyoming’s first state governor, and a longtime U.S. Senator.

The base is composed of three different Security Forces Squadrons making up the 90th Missile Security Forces Group, to which Coggin was assigned along with volunteering with the F.E. Warren Base Honor Guard where he was the Assistant Non-commissioned Officer in Charge.

In 2009-2010, Coggin was the assistant Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge of the F.E. Warren Air Force Base Honor Guard. Honorably discharged in 2010, Coggin has found himself embracing his creative side again. Coggin has had his hands in a variety of art forms including woodworking, sketching, painting, sublimation and more.

Back in May, Coggin’s neighbor mentioned some of the artistic celebrations circulating the nation for the 250th, and approached him suggesting he paint a mural. Beginning with painting the Betsy Ross flag on his sidewalk, Coggin then set out to sketch his ideas for a mural, which is the largest painting he has ever done. While the flag took four hours to complete, the highly symbolic mural took 72 hours to complete.

During his planning process, Coggin continued to decorate his porch (which he does for several holidays), not knowing about the contest. Turning the white wall off of his patio into a symbolic dedication to veterans, it includes a bald eagle and the Liberty Bell. Additionally, Coggin painted silhouettes of a soldier and a helicopter flying overhead.

The branches of the military are found at the bottom of this tree.

Coggin said he felt something was missing with the soldier and decided to add a military canine, remarking how they too, are an integral part of our nation’s history. The background is filled with the flag’s stars and stripes. Finally, Coggin explained the tribute of the POW and MIA flag he painted was due to his father wearing a bracelet to remember those he knew. Coggin also honors A1C Jacobson by wearing a POW/MIA/KIA bracelet in her honor.

As part of a convoy in 2005, supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom while deployed to Camp Bucca, Iraq, Airman Elizabeth Jacobson was killed by an improved explosive device. She was the first Air Force Security Forces female to die in Operation Iraqi Freedom and the first female to have died since Vietnam. In 2025, the 324th Training Squadron was named in her memory.

Coggin set up the “POW / MIA Missing Man” table in memory of those who never made it home including A1C Elizabeth Jacobson.

While the inaugural Fourth of July Celebration’s contest had people decorating with the red, white and blue, the fact that Coggin set his up to display the different elements, in honor of our military was certainly the wow factor that stood out the best, far above any others.

“I’ve been asked if I am going to keep this mural up and for how long and if I’ll preserve it — that’s still in question,” he continued, “Right now I have the hidden mural of Warren County and have a few other white walls to cover,” said Coggin.

You can still enjoy his setup on Division St., off of Conewango Ave., at 12 Beaty Court where it can be viewed at all hours, with patriotic lights set to turn on each evening.

Cogginn added, “I’ll have to step up my game next year.”

It’ll be a tough one for even Coggin to compete against.

Be sure to look for upcoming pieces including a painting he will submit for the Warren County Fair this August.