This article was in Thursdays local paper . I don't know this guy from Adam , but being a small town I bet I can track him down .

Vietnam vetran salvages downed Old Glory
By Kristen Inbody

 The Kodiak post office is heralding a man they call a lcal good Smaratin.
 When Dawn Acosta, officer -in-charge at the post office arrived for work Monday morning,Old Glory was missing from the flagpole.
  "We go out Monday morning, and where's the flag?" Acosta recounted .
    Her first thought was marauding teenagers, but than she found the American flag neatly folded into a tidy triangle with a note explaing its absence from the flagpole .
    It seems over the weekend the rusty pulley on the flagpole snapped in severe winds .  The American flag tumbled to the ground and lay in the parking lot .
    Than Riley Mortan came along . The flag apeared to have been run over four or five times, Mortan said . As he parked his car he saw two more vehicles run over it .
    " There was no excuse for people driveing over it . It was really obvious it qwas the American flagg.," said Mortan , a Vietnam vetran . " I have too much respect for what it means to allow that to happen ."
    The son of a WW II veteran , Mortan served with the 75th Infantry as an airborne ranger . He said he lost morwe than 100 friends in combat . Eleven buddies remain MIA .
    " They died for that flag." he said . "It means something to me .It means something to a lot of my friends . Maybe it doesn't mean anything to the people who drove over it , but that's beside the point . "
     Shakeing his head that people could have so little respect for the flag , Mortan picked up the soiled symbol and brought it home to clean it .
     Acosta called to thank Mortan with admaration."He is a war hero , so if anyone was good to find it ,it was definitly him ." Acosta said ."We just wanted to say thank you , for him to do that ," she added .
     Acosta said she saw no damage to the flag , which is back on display .
       Flag code section 176b states that the flag should not touch the ground , but the code does not require the flag be burned after touching the ground as long as the flag remains suitable for display .
      The American Legion's flag manual deems washing or dry cleaning acceptable flag care .

      Mirror writer Kristen Inbody may be reached via email at [email protected]

I apologise for any typos in advance . There is no on line edition of this article and I felt it was important enough to typeout by hand .

That's pretty damn cool. I don't understand how anyone could drive over the flag though but whenever I see it I think of all that have spilled their blood for it and for us.

At any rate that guy is A-ok. I think your idea is a pretty good one.

Great story, and he does deserve recognition. It's men like him, who make me proud of this country.

Hero rifle. Definitely

I asked Beekeeper about this .

DO IT!

Striker . Got it .


I don't know about a hero rifle or anything that large I just thought something small as a thank you from ARFcom for being a patriot, and his service to our nation .

Quoted: Great story, and he does deserve recognition. It's men like him, who make me proud of this country.

Just wish there were more like him!

Quoted: As an aside, I'm glad the post-9/11 fad of placing those little plastic "window flags" on cars has passed.  I damned near got run over 50 times stopping in traffic to pick them up.

I know EXACTLY what you mean I've damn near been hit doing the same thing too! This past 4th of July every house in my area had a small like 4x6 flag on there mailbox abd the wind overnight blew most of them into the street.  I spent the better part of an hour picking every one I could find up.  I got so pissed when I would seee someone walking there dog and just passing one by. Plus I got thanked by one a-hole for "cleaning up the litter in the area'. I know he meant well but have some f-ing respect for the love of god!

-JIM-

Regardless of what happenes here , I have an in with the local D.A.R. chapter and will put some pressure on her to get Mr. Morton recognition from them also .

.

Tag

I m in for $25.

Bumpity bump, bump

Quoted: I m in for $25.

Carefull . I don't actually have Staff aproval for anything yet . I am waiting to hear from Striker .

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: I m in for $25. Carefull . I don't actually have Staff aproval for anything yet . I am waiting to hear from Striker . He was on late last night, which probably means he won't be back on any time soon.  You must wait though.  Sorry!   No problem "staging" things and discussing though, as I can't imagine him refusing permission.

Thanx Beekeeper . I just didn't want to get a good thing killed cause some one jumped the gun is all .

Im so pissed ANYONE would rum over this nations flag

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: I m in for $25. Carefull . I don't actually have Staff aproval for anything yet . I am waiting to hear from Striker . He was on late last night, which probably means he won't be back on any time soon.  You must wait though.  Sorry!   No problem "staging" things and discussing though, as I can't imagine him refusing permission.   Thanx Beekeeper . I just didn't want to get a good thing killed cause some one jumped the gun is all .

Why would they kill it? He said that Striker would not mind in his previous post.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: I m in for $25. Carefull . I don't actually have Staff aproval for anything yet . I am waiting to hear from Striker . He was on late last night, which probably means he won't be back on any time soon.  You must wait though.  Sorry!   No problem "staging" things and discussing though, as I can't imagine him refusing permission.   Thanx Beekeeper . I just didn't want to get a good thing killed cause some one jumped the gun is all . Why would they kill it? He said that Striker would not mind in his previous post.

Good point . Having brain fade . Need more coffee .

I don't know if a rifle is in order, but an "atta boy" of some sort is definitely in order. We need more men like him in this country.

I agree a hero rifle would be a little over the top, especially this time of year.  Maybe a blade?  I'm in for a few bucks on whatever we come up with.

Is there a way we can send an offical AR15.com Thank You card (email) with our 'signatures'?

OK . We sound good to go .
I agree a rifle is over th top . Maybe a knife as was suggested ?
I was thinking maybe maybe a plaque?

Something engraved with

To Riley Mortan
On behalf of the membership of www.ar15.com in recognition of your service to our nation and continued patriotic actions over the weekend of November 25th - November 27th we salute you .


Signed the membership of www.ar15.com


Or there about . I suck at this kind of stuff , but that seems like it would be appropriate . If any one can word it better I am all ears .

We can get a delux plaque made here for under $100.
www.quicktrophy.com/plaques/index.php

I like both the plaque and the blade ideas. Whatever you guys decide, I'll contribute. The guy deserves it, even without the flag incident.

Quoted: A decent blade and have the flag laser engraved on it? I am pretty sure adding "Never Forget" would not offend him....

Maybe a good American made bowie with something like "To Riley Mortan from the membership of AR15.com in recognition of a lifetime of dedication to his nation." on one side and the flag and "Never Forget" on the other side?  

Again, this is just me talking, but I'd rather have a knife than a plaque.  That's a good idea too, tho, and I'll gladly donate to either one.  Of course, the plaque would run ~$100 while a knife would run ~$300 or so.

Quoted: Maybe we should let Kodiak-AK do a little research and see if he can find out if Mr. Mortan is a shooter, hunter..that might help making a decision on what to get.

I'm already on that . I know a few Nam vets that have shot enough in their lifetime .

So I just got back in town last night .
He isn't listed in the books . Likes his privacy from what i found out , but who doesn't right . I have DAR looking in to the matter right now also .

I'm in for $20.00.

My vote:

Buy a knife and a plaque.  

A knife that is AK legal to carry, and one he will use.  He's a Vietnam vet, and I'd bet he'd appreciate something that wasn't all gussied up with engraving and that he'd want to use.  I've heard Knives of Alasks makes some nice blades - I fondled one at Cabela's, and it seemed pretty stout.

Put all the patriotic verbage on the plaque.

Knives are for cutting things; wall plaques are for saying things.  YMMV.  

Whatever the decision, I'll go along with the consensus.

I know Riley, and this is pretty much the kind of guy he is.


Riley kinda does like privacy.

He's a 2nd Generation Warrior. Several tours in Vietnam. Both in the air and in the mud. Mostly Special Forces.

His dad, John,(deceased) was the most decorated man on the Island. DSM. He climbed Pont-du-Hoc on 6 June,'44,IIRC.

Riley is also quite a flier, as was his dad. His dad used to land and take off in Lily lake, a small pond, really, with 90' trees on each end of it. After they cleared the trees, an FAA inspector asked the old timer how they operated out of the lake with the trees on either end.

Old John deadpanned him. "We flew over them," he said.

Riley is also one hell of a Beaver pilot.

I am NOT surprised to see him do something like this.



BTW, He's a little 'old school' and it would NOT surprise me(either way) if he didn't own a computer.

Quoted: He isn't listed in the books . Likes his privacy from what i found out , but who doesn't right .

IM sent.

www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/7261821p-7173649c.html




found it for ya!

At this point gentleman it is time to state , Pic you are the man .

For the plaque, check out www.tonystrophies.com.  My wife owns a dance studio, and is constantly giving out a trophy or plaque of some sort.  We've gotten a couple very nice plaques from them - and they're CHEAP

Quoted: At this point gentleman it is time to state...

What do you mean?

Quoted: Quoted: At this point gentleman it is time to state... What do you mean?

What I mean is Piccolo gave me contact info so we can take this to the next level and make sure this gentleman gets  his due for being for being a patriot .

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: At this point gentleman it is time to state... What do you mean? What I mean is Piccolo gave me contact info so we can take this to the next level and make sure this gentleman gets  his due for being for being a patriot .

OK...just wanted to be sure my 'I'm in for $20' was what was called for.

I spell checked it for you.  The punctuation may be off a space or so.  Maybe the guy's name is Morton, rather than Mortan.  Hey, they spelled my name wrong on my Birth Cert. back when people could spell.

Vietnam veteran salvages downed Old Glory
By Kristen Inbody

The Kodiak post office is heralding a man they call a local Good Samaritan.
When Dawn Acosta, officer-in-charge at the post office arrived for work Monday morning, Old Glory was missing from the flagpole.
"We go out Monday morning, and where's the flag?" Acosta recounted .
Her first thought was marauding teenagers, but than she found the American flag neatly folded into a tidy triangle with a note explaining its absence from the flagpole .
It seems over the weekend the rusty pulley on the flagpole snapped in severe winds .  The American flag tumbled to the ground and lay in the parking lot .
Than Riley Mortan came along . The flag appeared to have been run over four or five times, Mortan said . As he parked his car he saw two more vehicles run over it .
" There was no excuse for people driving over it . It was really obvious it was the American flag.," said Mortan , a Vietnam veteran . " I have too much respect for what it means to allow that to happen ."
The son of a WW II veteran , Mortan served with the 75th Infantry as an airborne ranger . He said he lost more than 100 friends in combat . Eleven buddies remain MIA .
" They died for that flag." he said . "It means something to me.  It means something to a lot of my friends. Maybe it doesn't mean anything to the people who drove over it , but that's beside the point. "
Shaking his head that people could have so little respect for the flag , Mortan picked up the soiled symbol and brought it home to clean it .
Acosta called to thank Mortan with admiration.  "He is a war hero , so if anyone was good to find it , it was definitely him ." Acosta said . "We just wanted to say thank you, for him to do that." she added .
Acosta said she saw no damage to the flag , which is back on display.
Flag code section 176b states that the flag should not touch the ground, but the code does not require the flag be burned after touching the ground as long as the flag remains suitable for display.
The American Legion's flag manual deems washing or dry cleaning acceptable flag care.

Mirror writer Kristen Inbody may be reached via e-mail at [email protected]

I apologize for any typos in advance . There is no on line edition of this.

OK I am IMing people that have said they will donate with a Paypal address and snail mail address.
We are aiming for a usable knife for this gentleman and plaque to thank him from AR15.com.

I will keep this thread updated as this progresses .

Quoted: I  Maybe the guy's name is Morton, rather than Mortan.

It's Morton.

Actually, Riley is his middle name, but even his own mother always called him Riley.


If you do a plaque, make sure you do NOT use his first name(which I ain't gonna tell you)

Riley Morton what he goes by, leave it at that.




ETA, I could tell you guys one hell of a story involving the two of us, airplanes, a sunken freighter, 600 pounds of misappropriated King Crab, a Strip Club in Anchorage and ..........Let's leave it at that. Both of us were in our early 30s at the time and both of us were single.

Kodiak,

Paypal sent and IM sent to you with transaction number.

You're doing a good thing, man.

paypal inbound.  Any ideas as to what we're looking at as a goal?

Quoted: www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/7261821p-7173649c.html found it for ya!

Thank you Piccolo and Kodiak-AK.  I hope you don;t mind if I posted this on another forum.

Thanks again and have a happy holidays.

Justin