When a thief stole the U.S. flag from the lighted pole in the
front yard of Donald Holmes’ house, it’s likely he or she did not
realize the emotional investment he has in the memento.
Morgan Hill
When a thief stole the U.S. flag from the lighted pole in the front yard of Donald Holmes’ house, it’s likely he or she did not realize the emotional investment he has in the memento.
The flag, which Holmes, 63, hung on Veterans Day and left up because there was no rain until it was stolen on Saturday, was draped on World War II veteran Sherman Holmes’ casket when he died in April 2004. The important military service for his father, a 32nd degree Mason, attracted many Masons, making the ceremony particularly poignant.
“A young lady who was a part of the presentation group, she had tears rolling down her cheeks as she presented the flag to my mother,” he said.
A Vietnam veteran himself, Holmes said he considered, as he hung the flag, whether or not it was a wise idea.
“But then I thought, ‘who’s going to steal a flag?” he said. “Especially in these times, when we have people overseas. There’s a lot of different opinions about that, but there’s a lot of caring about the men and women who are serving.”
Morgan Hill police Chief Bruce Cumming said his department is doing everything possible to recover Holmes’ flag.
“We take these things personally,” he said. “There are some incidents that really strike a chord with the officers, and this is one of them.”
Cumming said he doubted if the person who took the flag realized its significance.
“It was a careless and thoughtless act by somebody, and they need to do the right thing and bring the flag back,” he said. “It’s not worth anything to them. The theft of a flag is bad enough, but this goes way beyond even that.”
Though the experience of losing the flag has been painful, Holmes said the unfortunate theft has illustrated like nothing else how caring the Morgan Hill community is.
“The outpouring of sensitivity, of concern and caring has touched me almost as much as the loss of the flag,” he said. “The police have been incredible, everyone who knows about it has been wonderful.”
Holmes stressed that what is important to him is getting the flag back. He hopes that whoever took the flag will return it, even anonymously. He is not interested in retribution.
“When I talked to my priest about it, we talked about focusing on forgiveness and mercy, not justice,” he said. “Justice is not our job.”
A resident of Morgan Hill for 31 years, Holmes said he and his wife recently moved into a new home and had the flagpole put up to display his father’s Stars and Stripes. As the oldest of four siblings, Holmes said, he was entrusted with its care since his mother is also deceased.
“I guess I didn’t do a very good job,” he said ruefully.
Cumming believes that there is someone who knows something about the theft, and he said they also need to “do the right thing” and come forward, even if they choose to pass along the information anonymously.
“This is so out of character for Morgan Hill,” he said. “In many ways, this is still a small town. It’s good to be able to have the one-on-one contact in this kind of a situation. But clearly, this is a caring community.”
The flag may be returned anonymously, Cumming said, either to the Morgan Hill Police Department, 16200 Vineyard Boulevard, or to Holmes’ house on Diana Avenue. Anyone with information about the flag is asked to contact the department at (408) 779-2101.
