Ferris Hills Flag Day Event Salutes Resident Veterans

Ferris Hills honored both its resident members of “The Greatest Generation” and the Stars and Stripes in a moving Flag Day special event. 

Several residents and staff gathered together on the June 14 holiday to sing patriotic songs, witness a flag ceremony, and listen to keynote speakers.  Local dentist and author Patrick Bastow was the featured guest speaker, discussing his new book entitled, “My Heroes and Their Stories of Survival.”  This paperback book was released on May 11, 2017.

Bastow talked about the book and his great admiration and respect for veterans. He learned early on that their wounds “were not just physical.”  He continued, “They have wounds that never heal.”

The book features the heroic true stories of some of our own, including Don Barton of California and Fred Fletcher of Michigan.  These two Ferris Hills residents were in different bomb groups of the Army’s 8th Air Force.

After being shot down within minutes of one another, both ended up in different prisoner of war camps before being released in 1945. The men didn’t know each other during the war, but decades later they met for the first time as residents at Ferris Hills.  This shared connection was a remarkable discovery.

On Flag Day, Bastow signed copies of his book and engaged with locals and residents who came to see his speak.  Attendees included Barton and Fletcher, whose stories are featured in the book.

Flag Day exists as a holiday to commemorate the adoption of the flag of the United States, which occurred on June 14, 1777.  Residents of Ferris Hills gathered together, festooned in red, white, and blue, to celebrate the occasion and salute our veterans for serving to protect the American Flag and the freedom it represents.

President Calvin Coolidge once said that the flag “represents our peace and security, our civil and political liberty, our freedom of religious worship, our family, our friends, and our home”.

The many veterans and their family members who call Ferris Hills home would agree. 

The staff at Ferris Hills makes it a priority to acknowledge and celebrate the unique histories of each resident, and this Flag Day special event was just one more way to recognize the heroic veterans who walk our hallways.

Copies of Bartow’s book can be purchased online at Amazon.com here:  http://a.co/9Qt4xQ9.