Moore Family Finds Signed American Flag After Tornado

A week after the deadly tornado, Moore residents are discovering keepsakes in their yards that don't belong to them. One family found a signed American flag they believe a veteran lost in the storm.

Monday, May 27th 2013, 8:18 pm

By: News 9


UPDATE: After our story aired, that flag's owner contacted us. Turns out, the flag was hanging on a classroom wall inside Briarwood Elementary. Monday evening Burton returned the flag to its rightful owner.

The teacher says guardsmen brought the flag to her class years ago to thank her students for making them cards at Christmas.

A week after the deadly tornado, Moore residents are discovering keepsakes in their yards that don't belong to them. One family found a signed American flag they believe a veteran lost in the storm.

Right after the tornado tore through Moore last week, Brenda Burton checked on her family who live in a neighborhood across from Moore Cemetery. That's when she discovered a battered American flag covered in mud with a hole in it, hanging on her parent's fence.

Complete Coverage: May 2013 Tornado Outbreak

"It has to mean something to somebody," said Burton. "And I saw it, and I thought well, this may be all there is. And to me, this flag looks like it belongs to someone who has already been maybe to Afghanistan or somewhere overseas."

In green marker is a message on the flag that reads: "Thank you and God bless you and America."

Etched on the flag's back side are dozens of signatures .

"Here for instance, it says thank you Spc. Randy Hunt."

It also has the autograph of Sgt. David Davis, and a message saying, "Thank you for the Christmas Card, Spc. Joslin."

Burton's family wasn't hit hard by the storm, so they're making it their mission to get the stars and stripes back to its rightful owner.

"And I just want to give it back to them, and I hope that, maybe their house wasn't a total loss," said Burton. "But I hope I can get this memento back to them somehow, to somebody who's done a lot for our country."

The Burton family has tried to clean off this flag as much as they can, and they hope whoever it belongs to will recognize it and will be reunited with it soon.

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