RICHMOND, Va. — Tommy Sammons never heard a bluegrass song he didn't like. From the spoons to the harmonica the Richmond native had been playing since he was knee high.
“I love life. It is better than what comes in second," Tommy said in 2017.
But the 91-year-old didn't just carry a tune he carried on a tradition unlike anyone else.
“I just enjoy the freedom it allows me,” Sammons said.
For Tommy, stars and stripes truly were forever. It is a patriotism that was unrivaled.
“Red White and Blue. Red White and Blue I’ll tell you. It’s the best. Prettiest colors in the world," he said.
At home inside and out. Old Glory was his constant companion. Flags of all sizes filled his mini-van because you never know when a stranger needs a patriotic pick me up. He gave away thousands.
“I can’t count that high. I swear. I have no idea,” Sammons said.
His backyard shed and the garage looked like Sammons captured the market on all things Star Spangled Banner.
Tommy's respect for the flag stretched back decades. At age 19, Tommy Sammons served the country during the Korean War.
“I told my mom I was joining the Navy so I went downtown and got sworn in," he recalled.
He worked with a helicopter crew running search and rescue missions. He unfurled his deep love affair daily.
His loving and understating wife Barbara always knew what was on Tommy's Christmas wish list.
"Don’t buy him anything that is not red, white, and blue. Because he is not going to wear it," she said.
Barbara remembered Tommy's passion or obsession began shortly after someone gave him a flag-themed jacket about 30 years ago.
“And it grew. And it grew. And it grew from there," she said.
Barbara admires her husband's passion because it never wavered.
“I have seen with my own eyes how he has touched people," she said.
The father of three always went out in public and gave Uncle Sam a run for his money.
His broad stripes and bright stars were fixtures at parades and memorials honoring veteran past and present. Nothing hurt Tommy more than watching our national symbol desecrated.
“They ought to be ashamed of themselves," he said. “They just don’t know.”
Tommy held tight onto the memory of childhood friend Leslie Turner. Leslie never came home from World War II.
“Just a young man who didn’t get a chance to enjoy life. But it had to be done," he said. “He got wounded and was put on a jeep. That jeep hit a mine. And that is what killed him.”
Tommy Sammons kept waving his flag till the very end.
“If there comes a point where my health isn’t good and I can’t do it. I’m still going to do it. I am not going to quit," he said.
Sammons was a Navy veteran who pledged that his colors will never run. He passed away at the age of 91 in early September.
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