(firehouse.com) – When the dispatcher answered, Blystone said it wasn’t a 911 call. It was a “personal dilemma,” she said.
“(It was) a floundering American flag atop at 25-foot flagpole located on my parent’s property next to their home,” she said in an email. “The rope had broken and their large flag was getting battered by persistent, and increasing high winds.”
The current flag had been flying 24/7 since she replaced on her father’s birthday in October 2016.
“Dad had retired after serving 30 years in the U.S. Army, Airborne Division, and was proud of his long affiliation with the Armed Forces and the 503rd Airborne,” Blystone said. “He was proud to be an American and a soldier.”
When he passed away in January 2017, Blystone started helping her mom attend to the home her parents had built and lived in on Village Lane.
Blystone told the dispatcher there was no way of rescuing the flag, nor replacing the frayed rope on her own. She thought that since fire departments had been known to rescue cats from trees, they could probably help rescue Old Glory.
The dispatcher quickly responded that it wouldn’t be a problem and that they would be there in about 20 minutes.
“I was in awe as I saw this huge hook-and-ladder truck pull up by Dad’s driveway,” Blystone said. “Out jumped Capt. Brandon Funk, firefighter Zach Thornberry, and engineer Blake Good. I was amazed, not only by the speed with which the firemen responded, but by the overwhelming sense of goodness, security, and sincerity that exuded from these three men.”
“Under my breath I said, ‘Everything is going to be OK now, Dad.’ ”
