It's the 3rd of July and Mrs. Garcia is in Spain, she has been there over 3 years now.
A little over 3 years ago Mrs. Garcia hired us to do an auction for her down off of Hampton by the hill. She was retired, her husband had passed away several years ago and she was living with her son. She and her son were in the process of selling their possessions and moving to Spain they were both retired now and had family in Spain and thought it would be nice to go live near their family.
Mrs. Garcia had another son who went to Vietnam but was killed there. One of the things we sold that day was a real to real tape deck he had sent home but never lived to enjoy. We had a good auction and sold everything in the house. Mrs. Garcia ran a tight ship and kept a very clean house, there was very little clutter and the house was in very good shape after the sale (I think you could have picked up the leftovers in 1 Hefty sack.
After the sale Mrs. Garcia came to me with a folded flag (the kind that come from a Veteran's funeral after they take it off of the coffin fold it and hand it to the family saying "On behalf of a grateful nation" I had never seen the flag during our setup as she had it in her personal area with the things that were not to be sold. She asked me if I could get take care of for her, that she could not do it. What she wanted was for me to dispose of the flag for her. I guess that because she was moving to Spain she thought it unwise to fly it there and she didn't know what else to do with it. I told here that I would do one better and that I would give the flag a new home and that on every 4th of July I would take that flag out of it's case and fly it in her son's honor at my home.
On the 4th of July we have a party, we love our country and respect those who have given us our freedom. Don't get me wrong, I love Veteran's day and Memoral day as well but to me the 4th of July means freedom, it means shoeless soldiers at Valley Forge, it means cold wet sailors reefing sale in a gale off of the coast of Cape Horn on the way to some distant land to project force for this country, it means Devil Dog Marines fighting like pit bulls in the Belleau Woods, it means members of the 8th Air Force conducting daylight bombing raids over Western Europe, it means a flag from a man I will never meet who lost his life in a far away jungle, a mom with a real to real player sitting in her basement for 30 years waiting for a son who wasn't coming home.
So, tonight I'll go down to my basement and get out Sgt. Garcia's flag from the box I have that is full of flags from the estates of other veteran's, and tomarrow morning I will spend the morning hanging them in my yard, and Sgt. Garcia's flag will wave once again over the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Rob
www.moundcityauctions.com
A little over 3 years ago Mrs. Garcia hired us to do an auction for her down off of Hampton by the hill. She was retired, her husband had passed away several years ago and she was living with her son. She and her son were in the process of selling their possessions and moving to Spain they were both retired now and had family in Spain and thought it would be nice to go live near their family.
Mrs. Garcia had another son who went to Vietnam but was killed there. One of the things we sold that day was a real to real tape deck he had sent home but never lived to enjoy. We had a good auction and sold everything in the house. Mrs. Garcia ran a tight ship and kept a very clean house, there was very little clutter and the house was in very good shape after the sale (I think you could have picked up the leftovers in 1 Hefty sack.
After the sale Mrs. Garcia came to me with a folded flag (the kind that come from a Veteran's funeral after they take it off of the coffin fold it and hand it to the family saying "On behalf of a grateful nation" I had never seen the flag during our setup as she had it in her personal area with the things that were not to be sold. She asked me if I could get take care of for her, that she could not do it. What she wanted was for me to dispose of the flag for her. I guess that because she was moving to Spain she thought it unwise to fly it there and she didn't know what else to do with it. I told here that I would do one better and that I would give the flag a new home and that on every 4th of July I would take that flag out of it's case and fly it in her son's honor at my home.
On the 4th of July we have a party, we love our country and respect those who have given us our freedom. Don't get me wrong, I love Veteran's day and Memoral day as well but to me the 4th of July means freedom, it means shoeless soldiers at Valley Forge, it means cold wet sailors reefing sale in a gale off of the coast of Cape Horn on the way to some distant land to project force for this country, it means Devil Dog Marines fighting like pit bulls in the Belleau Woods, it means members of the 8th Air Force conducting daylight bombing raids over Western Europe, it means a flag from a man I will never meet who lost his life in a far away jungle, a mom with a real to real player sitting in her basement for 30 years waiting for a son who wasn't coming home.
So, tonight I'll go down to my basement and get out Sgt. Garcia's flag from the box I have that is full of flags from the estates of other veteran's, and tomarrow morning I will spend the morning hanging them in my yard, and Sgt. Garcia's flag will wave once again over the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Rob
www.moundcityauctions.com
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