Mike Podhajsky, a Tama County native and Vietnam veteran who now resides in Albion, served his country in the Navy from 1965 to 1969. Once his time in the military ended, he found work as an aircraft mechanic and eventually obtained his pilot’s license.

A job as a copilot for a wealthy client gave Podhajsky the chance to fly all over the country and the Caribbean, and by chance one day in Evansville, Ind., he happened to be at the airport when he saw a massive tarp being unveiled in March of 1980. As it turned out, it was “The Great American Flag,” which was built by Anchor Industries and weighs in at over seven tons — larger than a football field by itself.

“I just happened to be working on an airplane, and I said ‘What’s all this noise outside?’ And all these people are showing up,” he said. “It probably took about 50 people just to pull it apart.”

The idea of the Great American Flag was hatched by University of Vermont Marketing Professor Len Silverfine in 1976 as part of the nation’s bicentennial celebration, and the first version of the flag hung from the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge between Staten Island and Brooklyn in New York City on July 4 before being irreparably damaged by wind. Silverfine then went back to work on creating an even larger flag — the one Podhajsky got to see for himself four years later — but the necessary funds were never raised to get it reinstalled on the bridge.

On the day the new flag was unveiled in Evansville, it was dedicated to the Americans held hostage at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, and it was later unfurled at Andrews Air Force Base to welcome them home when they were finally released.

Just before the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the flag was purchased by Army veteran Ted Dorfman of Greensburg, Penn., and he turned it into a memorial displayed outside of the nearby Jennerstown Speedway, about 15 miles from the site where Flight 93 crashed on that day.

Podhajsky’s Memorial Day message is simple: continue supporting the troops. To learn more, visit greatamericanflag.org, which provides the following update on the flag’s current status.

“As time progressed, the Great American Flag again fell into anonymity. Determined to preserve the flag and find a permanent home, Josh Dorfman and AJ Rehberg co-founded the Great American Flag Preservation Group, a registered 501(c)3 organization, in April 2019. Much work lies ahead, but with the support of fellow patriots across the nation and world, Josh and AJ strive to accomplish the group’s mission,” it reads. “Currently, next steps include unfurling, cleaning, and restoring the flag to its original condition. With many national milestones in the near future, the Great American Flag Preservation Group aims to have the flag serve as backdrop alongside celebrations, memorials, and other major historical events before finding its permanent home.”