It’s well known that in the military, no man is left behind. It’s a vow, taken seriously. For one family, when they stumbled across a $5 find at a local flea market, they didn’t know why they were drawn to that simple flag. But once they saw it, they knew they couldn’t leave it there. 

Recently, Lanie and Walter Brown meandered through the flea market that day, wanting to see if there were any good deals. Hidden in the back of a stall, under a jumbled mess of American flags, Lanie saw one that caught her eye. She pulled it out and saw that it was covered in writing. She showed it to her husband and they both said they felt like they had to have it. So they asked the seller how much the flag was, and quickly bought it for $5.

A couple stumbled across an American flag at a flea market. The flag was covered in signatures and tributes to a fallen soldier. Photo from YouTube

The Browns’ son was a Marine. They showed him the flag, and he immediately knew what the markings on the flag were – a tribute to a Marine who had died. It had been signed by all the members of his unit. 

When you’re a Marine mom or Marine dad, all other Marine moms and dads are your brothers and sisters, and all Marine kids are your kids, too,” Lanie told KPRC-TV.

With the little information they could get off of the flag’s signatures, as well as some old-fashioned luck, the couple were able to locate who the flag was for: Lance Cpl. Fred Maciel, who had died in Iraq in 2005, following a helicopter crash. With this new knowledge, Lanie said the flag was now “priceless.” She said, “We would have given her $100 if she’d asked for it.”

From left, Lanie Brown hugs Patsy Maciel. The two met when Brown returned a tribute flag to Maciel for her son Fred, who died in the Iraq War in 2005. Photo from YouTube

For Patsy Maciel, who lives in Houston, Texas, the couple’s find lets her know that after all of these years, her son’s memory still lives on. Maciel’s son, who died alongside 30 other troops in the helicopter crash, was only 20-years-old, she said. Following his death, she had been given his personal items. “His blue suits. Combat boots. He collected these little spoons,” she said to reporters. But the revelation that there was a tribute flag stunned her.

The flag was covered with messages, some of which said: “We’ll always remember the sacrifice you made. God bless.” “You will be missed by all, but never forgotten.” Maciel and the Browns met at the cemetery where her son is buried. Alongside them, other friends made their way to honor Fred Maciel.

One message on the flag stood out to Patsy Maciel. “Thank you for being who you were … Rest in peace.” She told Today that “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.” Now, she feels a sense of calm. “You know, I’m happy. This is all for my son. Nobody forgot my son.”