Seeing The Writings On The $5 Flag At Flea Market, Man Knew He Needs To Get It

If you go to the flea market, sometimes you are lucky to bring home some amazing finds. And most of the time, the items that you find here belong to other people. This Texas man bought a special flag which he later on discovered to be worth priceless.

Walter Brown was shopping at a local flea market in Hemphill when something caught his eye. It was an American flag. There was nothing really special about it until he took a closer look at the writings on the flag. When he noticed what was written in the flag, he immediately called over his wife, Lanie. She too was shocked by this amazing find.

The Browns read all the heartfelt messages on the flag and they knew that they had to purchase it.

Talking to TODAY.com, Lanie shared, “If they asked us for $100 we would have given them a $100 bill. It was priceless to us because we knew it meant something.”

When they brought it to the seller to pay, the flag had a price tag of $5 which they happily paid. And once they were back home the couple showed the flag to their son, who’s a marine. According to him, what his parents found was a fallen Marine’s tribute flag.

Look at the messages written on the flag, it had heartfelt messages.

“We’ll always remember the sacrifice you made. God bless.”

“You will be missed by all, but never forgotten.”

When they checked, all of the two dozen messages written on that flag were for Lance Cpl. Fred Maciel. He lost his life in a helicopter crash while serving in Iraq back in 2005.

They knew that they needed to give the flag back to the fallen soldiers’ family. In no time, they were able to locate Patsy Maciel, the mother of the fallen soldier. They could’ve mailed the flag to the soldiers’ mother but they felt that hand-delivering it to her would be more meaningful and memorable. In a separate interview with KHOU 11, Walter said, “It’s a lot deeper than just putting it in a mailbox.”

To receive the flag, Patsy met the Browns at her son’s gravesite. To their surprise other people showed up as well to honor the late Lance Cpl. Fred Maciel.

Patsy was not even aware that such a flag exists until hearing from the couple who found it. After her sons’ passing she received an official flag for his casket. She also felt that discovering this flag was a message from her son as if saying that she needed to heal.

Patsy told TODAY.com, “If this happened any earlier, there’s no way I would have been able to go out there and receive it because I was an absolute basket case. Now, my heart is at peace.”

Patsy also felt that her son played a part in the couple finding the flag which Lanie agreed to. You see, Walter isn’t much of a shopper and he doesn’t really like spending time at places like the flea market. And the only reason they went that particular day was because he wanted to look for a holster.

It was a blessing that the Browns were at the flea market that day. That flag would be a way for a grieving mom’s heart to heal.