The intersection of Main Street and Schoolhouse Hill Road is a busy place at 7:15 on a weekday morning. It is also on Newtown resident Brian Leonardi's route to work at HomeServe USA in Norwalk, where he is a compliance attorney.The Newtown Bee in the direction of his son's story, the elder Mr Leonardi declared, "I'm one proud Daddy!"

On Wednesday, January 11, Mr Leonardi was on his way to work, and running a few minutes later than he normally does. Pulling up near the Soldiers and Sailors Monument at that intersection, he glanced over at the flag that graces that site.

"I noticed there was no flag up," said Mr Leonardi, but he did see a corner of a flag protruding up from the wet ground. He hesitated for a moment; then he did what he thought was right - he stopped to retrieve the American flag from the mud.

"I put my hazards on, and pulled over. I was brought up to believe you don't let the flag touch the ground," he said, adding that his father and uncle had both served in the military.

As he worked to unhitch the flag from the hooks attaching it to the rope - "It looked like the rope had ripped completely, maybe in high wind," Mr Leonardi observed - another car pulled over. A police officer hopped out of the unmarked cruiser and joined him, asking if the flag had fallen.

"I was a little nervous, at first, because I thought he might think I was trying to steal it," Mr Leonardi said.

The officer, Sergeant Matthew Brodacki from Weston, instead quickly offered to help him with the flag.

Not knowing how to properly fold an American flag, Mr Leonardi's intention had been to just drape the flag over the hedge surrounding the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, "to just get it off the ground," he said. The sergeant's offer of help was welcomed.

After introducing himself, Sgt Brodacki, who had been on his way to training in Danbury, showed him how to properly fold it, and said how much he appreciated Mr Leonardi taking the time to rescue the fallen flag. The sergeant offered to drop the folded flag off at the Newtown Police Department, and both men were on their way.

"I thought that was the end of it," Mr Leonardi said.

The police sergeant, though, took the time to let Mr Leonardi's CEO know of the good deed.

"Mr Rusin," wrote Sgt Brodacki to Tom Rusin, CEO of HomeServe USA, " I just wanted to pass along a message and advise you of an incredible act of kindness by one of your team members this morning. While passing through Newtown on the way to training I observed a man standing off to the right gathering a flag from the snowy and muddy embankment.

"I quickly realized this man was trying to gather the flag up and stopped to see if I could lend a hand. We folded the flag together and as I took each fold I had a renewed sense of humanity as I saw Brian [Leonardi] was dressed in business attire and chose to stop, get covered in mud, and recover a flag that many others either didn't see or chose to drive by realizing it was in a mud puddle.

"If I may kindly ask, please consider recognizing him for his efforts. As a military veteran, police officer, dad, and citizen I am often reminded just how great our country really is."

Before long, the sergeant's e-mail of praise had been circulated throughout the company, including the Chattanooga, Tenn., office. The company, Sgt Brodacki noted on January 13, has chosen to recognize Mr Leonardi for an outstanding citizen achievement.

He was surprised, said Mr Leonardi, and humbled by the many kind responses he received from colleagues in both offices. He does not think he did anything out of the ordinary, he added.

His decision to do what he felt had to be done was probably due to what was in the back of his mind: "We live in an amazing country," he said, and he believes strongly in what the American flag symbolizes, including the many people "who protect us."

The flag was received at the Newtown Police Department, according to Sergeant Aaron Bahamonde, and when the flag has fully dried and is repaired, a VFW member will see that the flag once again flies high at the Soldiers and Sailors Monument. The VFW assigns a member to maintain the flag at that monument, Sgt Bahamonde said.

A side note to the story, Brian Leonardi's father, Don Leonardi, also a Newtown resident, proves that no matter how grown up children are, a parent never stops taking pride in the good acts of their offspring.

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