Restoring Old Glory’s Honor

Like many other Americans, Eve Burns flew her flag day and night after Sept. 11.

But one morning she found it torn to shreds in a flowerpot on her front porch in Oxnard. The iron bracket that held the flagpole had been pried loose. The pole and the eagle atop it were gone. Red, white and blue rags were all that remained of the banner she received from the government upon the 1992 death of her husband, a Navy veteran of World War II.

The vandal--Burns calls him “a hyena”--escaped.

But on Monday, the Stars and Stripes returned--a gift from Washington delivered by an honor guard of Cub Scouts and three Marines.

Gift Has ‘Drained All the Anger’ Away

“This has just drained all the anger out of me,” said Burns, whose only son was permanently disabled as a medic in Vietnam. “It’s made me realize there are more wonderful people around than hyenas lurking in the dark.”

With tears in her eyes, Burns watched from her front stoop as Scout volunteer Don Metz put his boys through their paces.

“Ten-hut!” barked Metz, who introduces himself as “an old Marine.” “Advance the colors!”

While his comrades from Den 7, Pack 3176 stood as ramrod-straight as Cub Scouts can, 9-year-old Evan Remedios strode forward and gingerly handed the folded flag to Burns. In an envelope inscribed to her “from the citizens of a grateful nation,” a certificate verified that the flag had been flown over the White House.

Such flags frequently are given to citizens on ceremonial occasions.

Burns, 75, had been robbed before in her south Oxnard neighborhood, but she said those crimes didn’t hurt her as much as the loss of her flag.

“At least the burglars had good taste,” she joked. “They took all of my better costume jewelry.”

Burns, angered by the flag incident, eventually wrote a letter that appeared in a local newspaper.

The response was gratifying, she said: People called in sympathy. A Thousand Oaks restaurant owner offered to give her the flag flying outside his house. Outraged when he heard of the crime, Metz managed to reach Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley), who had one of the White House flags sent to her.

‘I’m Happy, She’s Happy’

Metz also tried to round up representatives of the Navy and Air Force for Monday’s ceremony. Burns’ husband, Jack, was a sailor who was wounded in an attack on his ship; her son was an Air Force medic.

But only the Marines--recruiters working in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties--could make it, standing at attention as the Scouts solemnly did their duties. Afterward, Scout Aaron Dolan spoke for his buddies.

“I’m happy, she’s happy,” he said. “I’m happy she’s got her flag.” On the stoop, Burns thanked Metz for securing the flag, for working with the Scouts and for gathering the troops.

“I understood you were looking for a few good men,” he quipped.