SUMMERVILLE, SC (WCBD) – Ellen DePatie displays her service in the form of a United States Marine Corps flag in front of her house. The Marine Corps Veteran is waiting for a new one to come in the mail because of what someone did to her current flag.
DePatie was walking out of her house Wednesday morning when she noticed what looked like part of her red USMC flag on the ground.
“I noticed it had been cut with a knife because of all the jagged edges,” said DePatie. “It hurt me to the core.”
DePatie has since filed a report with Summerville Police Department. The Veterans group she is a member of is sending a new flag. However, DePatie says the incident is an offense against generations of Marines including her father.
The former Marine will not speculate who defaced the flag, but DePatie says she would give them the benefit of the doubt.
“I hope that it was a prank and they don’t understand the meaning of that flag,” said DePatie, “especially for the military that protects your country and for the people that are serving now and the people served in the past – I just don’t know what kind of person would do that.”
