Spreading patriotism, one flag at a time

John W. “Jack” Cowley sits at his booth in the middle of the restaurant, awaits his bowl of tomato soup and scans the patrons.

The routine is the same three nights a week at a Friendly’s restaurant in Falmouth, Mass.: Cowley approaches a table, asks the adults for permission to talk to the young kids, then introduces himself - “I’m a United States Marine, and I am proud of you” - and recites the Pledge of Allegiance, often with the family joining in. Then he presents a box with an appropriately folded American flag, large enough to fly on a flagpole; a copy of the pledge; a printout of the Constitution; and a typed note which reads, “CHARACTER: Doing the right thing when nobody is looking.”

“Most families who receive the flags really do appreciate it,” says Cowley, a Falmouth resident and member of American Legion Post 111 in Woodstock, Ct. “At least once a week, when I go to pay my supper bill, the waitress says, ‘It’s all set. The people that just left paid for it.’ It makes you feel good that somebody else loves that flag and what it stands for.”

Cowley, a 91-year-old World War II veteran, has long respected and honored the flag. “The day I turned 17, I was in the Marine Corps recruiting office and swore allegiance to the flag, my country and my drill instructor,” he says. “I stayed around there for another eight years. I am still a Marine.”

And he is still spreading patriotism, one donation at a time. Since 2001, he has purchased and distributed 1,600 flags to date from Emblem Sales. “The flag makes me proud,” Cowley says simply.

Cowley volunteers at the Coast Guard station in nearby Woods Hole, overseeing the flag raising every morning. The walls of his office are covered with pictures of his great-grandchildren, who he doesn’t see very often. His love of children and patriotism serves as his motivation. “Hopefully, this will create some more patriots. I hope these kids remember this when they see the flag flying outside their bedroom.”

The inspiration for his flag gift-giving crusade came from something he saw in a magazine.

“What made me actually think of this many years ago is remembering seeing a picture and a story of a man standing outside his back porch overlooking the beach or ocean,” Cowley remembers. “He was a veteran and was out there every day playing ‘Retreat’ on his bugle at sundown. It was beautiful. He was all alone out there. I can still see the picture. I wish I had recorded it somehow. That’s really what got me hot on this.”

In the early 1990s, he started giving out American flags to Coast Guardsman and their families before it evolved to giving them out as awards, both at the Coast Guard station and local schools.

About the same time, Cowley noticed tattered flags around his neighborhood. “I went up and rapped on the doors and offered them a flag — no questions asked — to replace their tattered flags.”

Starting in 2001, Cowley gave out flags at another restaurant until a patron complained that Cowley’s recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance was disruptive. The same thing happened at two other restaurants after months of his flag presentations.

But Friendly’s is a different story. “They love it,” Cowley says. “It’s a family restaurant. The manager mentioned that so many people come back because the kids want to come here. I get a lot of kids looking over at me and smiling because they remember me.”

And the families love it. Parents and children alike express their gratitude, thank him for his service and some offer a salute as he leaves their table. He concludes each visit with, “Semper fi, Marine.”

Among the families who received Cowley’s good will recently were the Davenports, who are serving with the Coast Guard.

“It shows true patriotism, and you don’t see that a lot these days,” said Kristin Davenport, who was dining with her husband, Nick, and two young children. “It really warms my heart to see him doing what he’s doing, just how excited the kids are as well as the families. He obviously takes great pride in what he is doing.”

Nick Davenport agreed, saying, “We need more people like that in the world. If we had more people like him, we would not have as many problems in the world as we do today.”

Cowley purchases all of his flags from Emblem Sales and the post benefits from the Flag Rewards program, says Everett Cowley, Jack’s brother and finance officer at Post 111. “We only got involved in flag rewards eight years ago, a lot later than his involvement in flag purchases. We missed out on many thousands of dollars. But once we did get hooked up with it, we were able to buy things from Emblem Sales that we wouldn’t have otherwise been able to afford.”

Ten percent of Cowley’s flag purchases go toward flag rewards. With those proceeds, Post 111 has purchased flags sets for the town hall, replacement ones for the community and a new flag for the post home.

“There have been some years when little ole Woodstock, Connecticut, Post 111 has been the top recipient in the flag rewards program in the state of Connecticut,” said Everett Shepard, post member and former department adjutant. “It’s a great feeling to see our post on the list.”

Shepard hopes Cowley’s actions motivate others to do something similar. “It would be nice to see other Legionnaires on a small scale do the same kind of thing. Giving flags away and highlighting the importance of display and flying the flags with respect. It’s a great thing he’s doing with the kids.”

Cowley is well aware that one day he won’t be able to sit in his booth, sip tomato soup and spread patriotism.

“I keep thinking that perhaps some Legionnaire will listen to the story of that bugler and go on to do this someplace else,” Cowley says.