He was feeling patriotic, so he ‘weed whacked’ a flag in his field
Wayne Valentic and his wife Vickie as seen from the air standing in the flag they cut into a field at their Columbia Falls Stage home. (Chris Peterson photo)
By CHRIS PETERSON
Hungry Horse News
In early July Wayne Valentic woke up one morning and was “feeling patriotic.”
So with the help of his wife, Vickie, he fired up his weed trimmer and went to work in the field east of his Columbia Falls Stage home.
Over the course of three days and a little help from an Internet site, the couple carved an American flag out of the field grass, complete with 50 small flags to mark the stars.
The flag is 120 feet long, or about 7,000 square feet total, Valentic said. Standing in the field, one wouldn’t notice it, but from the air it’s plain as day.
Valentic has good reason to be patriotic. His father, Sgt. Thomas Valentic, was a gunner and radio operator in B25 bombers during World War II and his mother, Helene Anna (Evanco) Valentic was a Platoon Sergeant in the Marines during the war. She was one of the first women to serve in the Marines. Women weren’t allowed to fight in combat, so she trained other women and worked in the medical field.
The couple met in 1946 at an event in the Pocono Mountains back East. The family joke was that some “Italian nobody” was singing in the hall that night – Frank Sinatra, Wayne said.
Sgt. Valentic was awarded a bronze star with valor and two purple hearts, Wayne said. He was shot in the leg and once in the chin. His aircraft survived one attack that took off half the rear wing, Wayne said.
Both of Wayne’s parents have since passed away. So the flag is a tribute to them.
“I wanted them to see it from the heavens,” Wayne said.
Valentic used to be a logger in Alaska, but suffered an injury. After retraining, he became a commercial real estate appraiser.
He said it was nice to live in a community that appreciates the American flag.