DUBLIN — Each year, as the country prepares to honor fallen veterans, at least one Bladen County man is doing his part.

David Hursey, owner of Dublin Woodwork and mayor pro temp of Dublin, spent his day Friday doing what he does every flag holiday — lining a stretch of U.S. 87 through Dublin with Old Glory. It’s been so long since he began, he cannot remember exactly when it started, but every year around this time, he brings out some 12” x 18” flags, grabs a drill and a helper, hops on his scooter, and spends the better part of a day planting flags along the highway in Dublin.

“It’s just something I want to do,” he commented Friday as he was motoring along the sidewalk. His helper — which is sometimes an employee at the woodworking shop and sometimes some juvenile relatives — was drilling a hole in the ground with a 24-inch-long drill bit while Hursey followed, planting the poles in the holes that were drilled about every 20 feet.

“The wind will catch them in a while and uncurl them, and they’ll be a pretty sight,” said the Dublin resident.

He just purchased 64 new flags this year to replace some that were damaged in a storm last year, and, added to what he already has, he guessed he puts out somewhere between 200 and 300 flags each year, depending on how many he has that are in good shape.

The flag display stretches from the town limits on the north side of town to 2nd Street, and Hursey said he’s putting the new flags closest to the north side of town this year “so they’re the first ones people see, and it looks nice when they come into town.”

“I’m not a vet, but I sure respect those who are,” he remarked.

He declined to reveal how much he spends on the flags, reiterating that it was “just something he wanted to do.”

When flags get too old, faded, or worn to display, Hursey gives them to the Dublin Boy Scout troop to dispose of.

“It lets them get in on it and helps teach them respect for the flag,” he remarked.

This Memorial Day display is only one of several during the year. Hursey puts out the flags every Memorial Day, Labor Day, and Fourth of July, as well as some Flag Days.

“Somebody’s got to do something, because veterans don’t get enough appreciation for what they’ve done,” he said.

Chrysta Carroll can be reached by calling 910-862-4163.

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By Chrysta Carroll

ccarroll@civitasmedia.com