Branson retirement community receives gift of new flag

Just in time for the recent Memorial Day holiday, The Oaks Retirement Home in Branson received a new American flag, when Optimum employees Emmit Miller and Justin Pospisil noticed the facility’s flag was weathered and in need of replacement. 

New flag at The Oaks Retirement Home (photo submitted)

Optimum, which provides phone, TV and internet services in many areas including southwest Missouri, encourages employees to be on the lookout for flags that are faded, tattered, or torn, and the company then offers to replace the flag at no charge. The flag replacement program was started in 2023 at the suggestion of Troy Born, Vice President of Field Operations at Optimum. A U.S. Marine Corps veteran, Born served in Kuwait and Desert Storm in the 1990s. During his service, he was particularly impacted by the fact that even oppressors in that era respected the U.S. flag. “We would see them point to the flag and say “freedom,” he recalled. 

At Born’s suggestion, in 2023 Optimum implemented Operation Stars and Stripes, starting with 300 flags and encouraging employees to watch for worn flags while on or enroute to jobs. The flag does not have to belong to an Optimum customer; anyone on a route driving an Optimum vehicle is encouraged to follow up if they see something. “Our employees are more than just employees—they live and work in communities,” said Born. “The flags are not a selling point—there’s no catch.” 

Born shared a recent story of an elderly woman who could hardly believe it when Optimum employees knocked at her door and politely asked if she would like to have a replacement for the worn flag flying at her home. “Why would you want to do that?” she asked, nearly in tears as she explained that her husband was a veteran and recently deceased, and that she did not have the funds to replace his worn flag. After replacing the flag, the employees properly folded the old one and recited her husband’s name and rank as they presented it to her. 

Starting in Arkansas, Missouri and Mississippi, Operation Stars and Stripes is now active in 21 states and an additional 300 flags have been provided by the company for the program. The flags are made in the U.S.A., and proper disposal of the worn flag is done through VFW or American Legion groups or Scout troops. 

The flag that was flying at The Oaks was extra special, as it was given to the facility by a resident, Teresa, who received it when her husband Richard, a veteran, passed away. The Oaks wanted to preserve the original flag for her, and Optimum employee Emmit Miller personally donated a display case that had belonged to his grandfather. 

The Globe staff joins The Oaks in thanking Optimum for this program and thanking local employees Miller and Pospisil for their wonderful example of what it looks like to live and work in community with other patriotic Americans.