American Flag Part Of Downstate Man's Life Work
(CBS) -- As America celebrates the Fourth of July, the flag flies from front porches coast-to-coast and for one man from downstate Illinois, that symbol of freedom has become part of his life's work, reports WBBM's Mike Krauser.
11 years ago, Larry "The Flag Man" Eckhardt attended a fallen soldier's return home from Iraq and he didn't like there weren't many American flags.
"That just didn't seem quite right so we went out and bought 50 flags and now we are up to 2,380 flags," he said.
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The flags were bought mostly on his own dime. The flags are three by five feet on ten foot poles and he takes them pretty much anywhere driving from his home in downstate Little York when a soldier dies or a police officer or a firefighter.
"There are putting their life on the line for millions of people that they don't know," he said.
He meets thousands of people each year, he says, moved by the flags.
"I always tell everybody if you can ride your or drive through my flags without having a lump in your heart, I don't want to know you," he said.
He gets some donations from time to time and help from volunteers but his efforts are largely financed out of his own pocket.
"Nobody ever said I was the brightest crayon in the box," he said.
There are thousands who would beg to differ.
