by M. J. Schlagle

Created on: April 17, 2008   Last Updated: June 11, 2008

"The Patriotic Pirates of Sunset Beach"
A Veterans Day Mystery

There was no flag, the pole that reached for the sky stood empty of its standard and a hush fell over the crowd that had gathered on the sands of Sunset Beach on this unusually warm Veterans Day, in the old beach town of Cape May, NJ for the evening Flag lowering ceremony.
What had happened to the flag?

Old Captain Charlie, a gray haired WWII veteran, with beach sand glistening in the smiling wrinkles of his face, owned the little beach side shop and snack bar that served up souvenirs, crab cakes, and cold drinks to the tourists who visited.

For forty years every morning and evening, all summer long and on Veterans Day, Captain Charlie had faithfully raised and lowered the flag of an American soldier who had given their life fighting for our freedom. It has been a tradition for many who had witnessed this stirring salute, complete with the family members of the honored Veteran and the music of the National Anthem filling the air as the last glow of the setting sun melts into the ocean.

As Captain Charlie had gotten older his family helped carry on the tradition. The latest to lend a helping hand was his 13-year-old great-grand-daughter Sierra, smart as a whip, with an impish smile and twinkling eyes the color of the sea. She took her job seriously, she was proud of what her great-grandfather had started and she felt a deep sense of pride as she watched the crowd fill the beach every night.

This night she glanced hopefully down past the crowd to the waters edge and finally saw her friend Dan, who was brushing sand off his surfboard that was bobbing in the crashing waves of the evening surf. Dressed in a black wet suit, he stood out like a sentry in the glow of the setting sun. The ocean was his refuge, he came here to dream and wonder as he stared out across the endless sea, imagining that he could see and hear his parents who were both serving in Iraq. Dan's brother Jon was sitting out on the furthest rocks of the jetty, casting his fishing line out to the remains of the old cement military ship. It was a curious experiment gone bad during WWII and now a great fishing hole.

Dan and Jon stayed with their aunt who owned an old antique shop that carried trinkets and baubles from days gone by, but they preferred the company of the sea and their friend Sierra who made them laugh when they needed it most.

Each day they would gather on the beach combing the sand for Cape May Diamonds, sharks teeth, fossils and

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