DUBLIN, Ohio -- A local Iraq War veteran says he was offended to see a tri-folded American flag on sale in a Dublin consignment shop. The flag was removed after NBC4 contacted the store about it.
While Shopping at the New Uses general store in Dublin on Friday, Heath Cox, who served in Iraq in 2003 as part of the Army's 101st Airborne infantry unit, found a tri-folded American flag for sale at a price of $30.
Cox said the size of the flag, the material and the sharp creases indicated that it was likely the kind of flag presented to family members when a soldier dies. he asked the store to remove it.
"They acted like it was just a flag and they didn't honor the fact that it represented someone's life," said Cox, of Marysville. "That is draped upon our coffin. That is our country's gratitude to us for fighting for that freedom and for it to just be thrown into a glass case for sale, that's just so disrespectful."
The store's manager initially told NBC 4 that the flag had been removed from display so the store could research its history. But when we found the flag still displayed on sale for $30, the manager removed the flag himself.
A district manager told NBC 4 by phone that New Uses only investigates whether items they buy are stolen. The store does not question customers' motive for selling an item or its history. The district manager referred all other questions to the store's corporate headquarters in Dublin, where our calls went unreturned.
"That tri-folded flag is sacred and should never be sold in my opinion," said Bernie Brogan, Commander of American Legion Post 532 in Columbus.
Brogan said an interment flag is meant to honor a deceased veteran, not to turn a profit. He received one when his father, a World War ii veteran passed. He told us he cannot fathom selling it.
"Absolutely not, when I die that will still be in my home. No way...I think that's wrong," Brogan said.
Selling a burial flag is not illegal, but Brogan and Cox say families with flags they no longer wish to care for should donate them to veterans organizations for proper handling and preservation.
For additional information, stay with nbc4i.com and NBC 4 and refresh nbc4i.com -- Where Accuracy Matters.
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