By Mary Carole McCauley
Baltimore Sun
BALTIMORE COUNTY, Md. — More than 58 years after Richard J. Seibert was killed while fighting overseas in the Vietnam War, a giant American flag hangs in his and other veterans’ honor on the side of a Monkton barn.
“We would not have what we have today without the warriors who went out there and put down their lives for us,” the barn’s owner, Jhett Lewis, said.
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Lewis put up his first flag on the barn after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. It was much smaller — the only size the retired Baltimore County Fire Department captain could locate at a time when demands for the Stars and Stripes had skyrocketed.
But the following month, “when our warriors went to war after the attacks, we felt a need to support them,” Lewis said, “so we found a bigger flag.”
It’s a tradition Lewis has kept up ever since, frequently swapping out tattered flags for new ones on or around Memorial Day. Over the years, the flag has grown in size until it achieved its current dimensions, as the nation nears its 250th birthday, of 8 feet by 12 feet.
“When I see that flag,” Lewis said, “I know we’re free. This is the only country where you can go out and literally be standing in front of the White House and say crazy things against your government and elected officials, and live to talk about it the next day.”
But memories of the first soldier he knew are never far away. Lewis was a child when Seibert, a close family friend, enlisted. The 7-year-old idolized the strong, confident young man.
“He was such a fixture in our household,” Lewis said, “almost like an adopted brother. The day he left, he told me: ‘I’m going away, but I’ll be back.’ I waited for him, but he never returned.”
Siebert was killed on Jan. 10, 1968. The 25-year-old had recently been promoted to first lieutenant and had been placed in charge of a light artillery unit.
“Our family got his uniform and some of his other personal belongings,” Lewis said. “I think about him all the time.”
Displaying the flag can be an expensive expression of patriotism, especially when it is exposed to Maryland weather year-round. A quick online search found several of the size that Lewis prefers on sale for around $200, and he estimates he has purchased about 20 over the years.
But the response the flag has received from friends, neighbors and passersby has been so profound that Lewis said he would never consider taking the flag down. One encounter in particular stands out:
A few years ago, around Memorial Day, Lewis noticed a stranger’s car parked in his driveway. A middle-aged man was on his knees in front of the flag and an accompanying display of military artifacts. After allowing the man his privacy, Lewis approached and asked if he was OK.
The visitor told him that he had driven by the barn three or four times trying to get up the courage to stop and finally “‘had to do it,’” Lewis said.
“‘I was a protestor during the Vietnam War,’” Lewis said the man told him, “‘and I treated [returning veterans] like crap when they came back. I’ve learned so much since then, and I’ve changed. I need to ask for forgiveness. When I saw your flag, I thought, this is how I can do it.’”
Lewis didn’t have to think twice before replying.
“I told him, ‘You know what? You’re forgiven.’”
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