Larry Eckhardt is in debt. Larry Eckhardt drove 11 hours. Larry Eckhardt travelled 602 miles. Larry Eckhardt did it all for a stranger that he never met, never knew, and will never know.
Eckhardt is known as the "flag man." He drives across the country, no matter how far away, to honor fallen veterans.
"All they know is that I'm coming to try and help them pay respect to one of their own," Eckhardt said.
Eckhardt reminds me a lot of the man who plays "Taps" on his balcony every day to honor our troops.
On this trip, Eckhardt has chose to honor Private First Class Dustin Gross who was killed by enemy rockets in Afghanistan. Many people don't show up to honor vets, sometimes no one shows up, but Eckhardt does and he's ready with his flags.
He's been doing it for six years and he's in debt because of it. But it makes no difference to him, it's a debt he will readily take on to pay back the fallen soldiers who have paid the price of freedom with their own lives.
When Eckhardt showed up to Dustin Gross' funeral with over 2,000 flags they were filled with gratitude.
"That's somebody who's got a heart right there," said his mother, Angie Brown. "I don't think we could thank him enough. I really don't."
Watch the incredible story of one man's journey to never forget our fallen heroes.
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