WHAT: A battered American flag with 48 stars β and a bullet hole from a German machine gun β that led American troops when they landed on Utah Beach in France on D-Day, June 6, 1944, sold at Heritage Auctions last month.
MORE: The flag brought $514,000,more than five times the pre-sale estimate. Originally flown from the stern of U.S. Navy vessel LCC 60 (the sole guide boat at Utah Beach), it was kept by the shipβs captain, Lt. Howard Vander Beek, until his death in 2014.
SMART COLLECTORS
KNOW: Thoroughly documented and photographed, this World War II relic is part of an illustrious list of existing historic American flags. Its importance will continue to grow.
BOTTOM LINE: The buyer, a Dutch art collector who lives in Switzerland and New York, attended the sale with an uncle. Both had recently visited Normandy in memory of family killed during bombing raids on Rotterdam in 1940. To him, the flag represents family history, plus the valor of young soldiers, especially βAmericans who gave their lives so we in Europe can live in freedom.β
