Photo: boston.cbslocal.com
One Massachusetts man set out to change the world, one little gesture at a time. He may have not deliberately thought of doing this, but reactions to his gesture of rescuing an American flag abandoned on the highway show that this is exactly what he’s accomplished.
James Deely was on his daily commute in West Bridgewater, Massachusetts, when he passed by a flag on the highway. It had probably fallen off a truck or a bike, and was being run over by cars whose drivers didn’t even bother to give it a second look.
Deely tells CBS Boston that he too passed by it initially. He drove away from it for a while, but just couldn’t stand thinking it would remain there, to be trampled over in heavy traffic, until nothing of it remained. So he turned around and literally risked his life in rush hour traffic to get to it and bring it back with him to the car.
He says he could only think of his son and what he would make of his father if he too passed by the American flag on the ground and did nothing about it. “That represents your country and the people who fight for your country. It represents the freedom instilled in me since I was a kid,” he says.
Deely recalled reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and knew the flag he saw on the ground deserved better. He pulled over on breakdown lane and waited until some type of break in traffic, so he could make his way over to it. He ran to the flag, picked it up and ran back to his car, where he folded it carefully and then continued on his way.
“I picked the flag up and got a lot of passersby waving, giving me the thumbs up, and honking the horn,” Deely recalls.
He got pretty much the same reaction when he went public with his story – not to brag but because he was trying to use social media to track the rightful owner of the flag. Deely is convinced they didn’t even know they’d lost until they got to their destination.
His search has proved fruitless, so Deely is now looking for a place to keep the flag in his home, where it would receive the respect it deserves. Meanwhile, his story has gone viral, earning him praise and loving words of support. To the world, Deely will remain the man who braved and maybe even risked his life in rush hour traffic to rescue a flag on the highway.
Deely tells CBS Boston that he too passed by it initially. He drove away from it for a while, but just couldn’t stand thinking it would remain there, to be trampled over in heavy traffic, until nothing of it remained. So he turned around and literally risked his life in rush hour traffic to get to it and bring it back with him to the car.
He says he could only think of his son and what he would make of his father if he too passed by the American flag on the ground and did nothing about it. “That represents your country and the people who fight for your country. It represents the freedom instilled in me since I was a kid,” he says.
Deely recalled reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and knew the flag he saw on the ground deserved better. He pulled over on breakdown lane and waited until some type of break in traffic, so he could make his way over to it. He ran to the flag, picked it up and ran back to his car, where he folded it carefully and then continued on his way.
“I picked the flag up and got a lot of passersby waving, giving me the thumbs up, and honking the horn,” Deely recalls.
He got pretty much the same reaction when he went public with his story – not to brag but because he was trying to use social media to track the rightful owner of the flag. Deely is convinced they didn’t even know they’d lost until they got to their destination.
His search has proved fruitless, so Deely is now looking for a place to keep the flag in his home, where it would receive the respect it deserves. Meanwhile, his story has gone viral, earning him praise and loving words of support. To the world, Deely will remain the man who braved and maybe even risked his life in rush hour traffic to rescue a flag on the highway.
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