10-4 Magazine / July 2026 47 and honoring that was a priority for him. Dan told the shop that he needed a truck that felt like Johnny Cash’s 1974 track “Ragged Old Flag” and it only took them a few weeks for it to be returned with the current design on it. “My grandfather was in World War One. He was in the Navy. My father was in the Army Air Corps, his brother was a Marine, and my brother was in the infantry in Vietnam. We put my father’s and my brother’s names on it. That was after the wrap had been on there for a while. It also mentions the Minutemen, the Buffalo Soldiers, the Navajo Code Talkers, the Tuskegee Airmen, and thanks all who have served, past and present. I’m really proud of what our military has done, and all my family members who have served. That’s where this idea came from,” said Dan. Sadly, Dan also spoke about the negative reactions that people have to the truck, although most of the time the response is positive, saying, “Someone takes a picture of the truck or gives a thumbs up at least once a day, and I have had people salute it, too.” Dan is not afraid of the attitude he has faced from strangers on the road. “I have also had people give me the finger. Most of the time I try to ignore it, but I have a hard time ignoring that kind of stuff.” Dan is not closed off to other people’s ideas and feels that we need to be considerate of each other’s opinions. “My thought is, if you have an opinion about it, good, bad, or indifferent, you have a right to say it. But don’t just throw a rock and run away. After all, regardless of what you take away from it, that ragged old flag of ours continues to be a symbol of perseverance for the world to see.” As Johnny Cash sang: “And the government for which she stands, is scandalized throughout the land. And she’s getting threadbare and wearing thin, but she’s in good shape for the shape she’s in. ‘Cause she’s been through the fire before, and I believe she can take a whole lot more. So we raise her up every morning, and we take her down every night. We don’t let her touch the ground, and we fold her up right. On second thought, I do like to brag. ‘Cause I’m mighty proud, of that ragged old flag.” n
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