‘Flag Day’ Brings a Marine Father’s Legacy to Special Veterans Day Screening in Washington

Albert Lee Brayboy Sr. never got to see the documentary that would preserve his story. The U.S. Marine Corps veteran died the Christmas after filmmakers captured him participating in his beloved hometown’s annual Flag Day celebration in 2024.

But according to his son, retired Navy veteran Albert Brayboy Jr., the people of Three Oaks, Mich., made certain his father knew how much he meant to them while he was still alive.

“They gave my dad his flowers while he could still smell them,” Brayboy Jr. told Military.com in an interview, recalling the extraordinary support his family received from the small community.

That appreciation now extends far beyond Michigan.

On Nov. 11, the documentary “Flag Day” will receive a special Veterans Day screening at the United States Navy Memorial in Washington, D.C., bringing the Brayboy family’s story to an audience of veterans, military families and members of the public.

The 75-minute film, directed by husband-and-wife filmmakers Andrew and Melissa Shea, explores the lives of residents in Three Oaks—a community known for hosting what is considered the nation’s largest Flag Day parade. Through its preparations and celebrations, the documentary examines patriotism, political differences and the relationships that connect neighbors.

For Brayboy, however, the screening is something deeply personal. The documentary concludes with a dedication to his father.

“I cried like a baby the first time I saw it,” Brayboy said. “For something that signifies unity and togetherness and people working together … for that to be his legacy and captured forever in film to be played on Veterans Day in our nation’s capital? … It’s a big deal.”

A Marine Father, a Navy Son, and a Town That Became Family

Brayboy’s appreciation for military service began long before he became a central figure in a documentary.

Growing up in Chicago, he admired a photograph of his father wearing his Marine Corps dress blues. Although he briefly considered following in his father’s footsteps, stories of overseas travel convinced him the Navy offered the adventure he wanted. He enlisted at age 17 in September 1975, shortly after the fall of Saigon.

Brayboy spent his first four years as a boatswain’s mate aboard an amphibious cargo ship, operating landing craft and handling the physically demanding work of the ship’s deck department, a demanding side of Navy life that continues today. He eventually became an air traffic controller, serving at Naval Air Station Glenview in Illinois and Naval Air Station Bermuda.

By the time he left the Navy, he had served 10 years and reached the rank of petty officer first class.

His parents eventually retired to Three Oaks, where the family had spent summers for years. Brayboy continued living in Chicago but visited frequently, developing what he describes as a second hometown.

His father became a beloved member of American Legion Post 204, the veterans organization that plays a central role in the town’s Flag Day festivities. Brayboy Jr. joined the post partly because he wanted to spend more time with him.

As his parents grew older, the community’s friendship became something considerably more important.

Brayboy’s mother lived with multiple sclerosis, and his sister moved to Michigan to help care for her. After she died, the family worked to ensure his father could remain in his own home.

Members of the Legion and other neighbors regularly stepped in to help, whether that meant finding someone to repair the plumbing, fix the heating system, or simply check on the elderly Marine.

“All I had to do was ask for anything,” Brayboy recalled. “They were like, ‘You and your dad, y’all better not need for anything.'”

The town also celebrated his father publicly. Around 2018, Brayboy recalled, he and his father were named grand marshals of the Flag Day parade, riding through town in a convertible as the community cheered.

Those moments helped explain why the family became such an important part of the documentary.

“Making this film meant earning the trust of the veterans in Three Oaks first,” Andrew and Melissa Shea said in a statement provided with the film’s press materials.

The filmmakers spent time in residents’ homes and at American Legion Post 204 before filming. They said the Brayboys became central to the story because their experiences illustrated generations of military service and the importance of returning to a supportive community.

‘The Flag Is for All of Us’

The Sheas first encountered the Three Oaks Flag Day parade in 2013 while spending summers in southwest Michigan. What started as an annual family outing eventually inspired them to document the celebration during the politically charged 2024 election year.

Rather than relying on narration to tell audiences what to think, the filmmakers adopted an observational approach, following veterans, volunteers, business owners and other residents as they prepared for the festivities.

The resulting documentary portrays a community whose members sometimes disagree sharply about politics but keep working together to preserve a tradition dating to 1953.

One of the film’s defining statements comes from Brayboy himself.

Brayboy told Military.com that the observation came naturally.

“I was hoping I could come up with something profound to say, and that just came out,” he recalled. “I didn’t plan for that to be as profound as it was, but it needed to be said.”

For Brayboy, the sentiment reflects experiences shaped by both military service and his upbringing as a Black American. He recalled growing up in a largely segregated Chicago neighborhood and struggling to understand the country’s racial divisions after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968.

His parents, he said, taught him that prejudice existed but that people should be judged individually rather than by their race. That lesson became even more meaningful after joining the Navy.

“Prior to me going in the Navy, I had no white friends,” Brayboy said. “But the Navy, I tell you what, you throw 350 guys on a ship from all over the country. They learn about each other, and they learn about getting along and breaking down stereotypes.”

He believes those experiences helped prepare him for a lifetime of forming friendships across cultural and political divides.

In Three Oaks, some of his closest friends hold political views different from his own. He doesn’t pretend those disagreements disappear, but he sees value in continuing the conversations.

Because of our friendship, they’re willing to listen. And that’s where the country should be.

He hopes audiences watching Flag Day recognize something similar in the relationships between his family and their neighbors.

“Just break down the stereotypes,” he said. “If you keep an open mind, then once you meet people one-on-one, you still get the chance to decide for yourself.”

Honoring Veterans Long After They Leave the Military

The documentary also highlights an aspect of veterans’ lives that Brayboy believes deserves considerably more attention: what happens after military service ends.

Despite leaving the Navy as an experienced air traffic controller and noncommissioned officer, he recalled struggling to qualify for civilian jobs that required bachelor’s degrees. Translating military experience into qualifications civilian employers recognize remains a challenge for transitioning service members.

“I’ve been serving, protecting this country for the last 10 years, and because I don’t have a college degree, I can’t even interview for your position,” he said, describing his frustration with prospective employers.

He eventually worked as a customer service manager for Southwest Airlines and later traveled across the country as a consultant training trucking companies to use GPS technology.

Still, Brayboy believes employers should do more to recognize the skills and leadership experience veterans gain in uniform.

Brayboy said he still keeps in touch with Navy friends from more than 40 years ago. Others remain on his mind even when he has lost contact with them.

Those lifelong connections help explain his admiration for the American Legion members who supported his father, many of whom continued looking after the family well beyond any formal veterans’ event.

Bringing Three Oaks to the US Navy Memorial

The Nov. 11 screening will follow the Navy Memorial’s annual Veterans Day wreath-laying ceremony, scheduled for 1 p.m. E.T. at the memorial’s Granite Sea.

Doors for the documentary screening open at 1:30 p.m., with the film beginning at 2 p.m. inside the Arleigh and Roberta Burke Theatre at 701 Pennsylvania Ave. NW.

Retired Navy Vice Adm. John B. Nowell Jr., president and CEO of the U.S. Navy Memorial, is scheduled to deliver opening remarks.

Following the screening, Andrew and Melissa Shea will join Brayboy Jr. for a discussion and audience question-and-answer session moderated by Ellen Gustafson, co-founder and executive director of We the Veterans and Military Families.

The event is free and open to the public, with advance registration available through the Navy Memorial. The film’s organizers also plan to make it available through the memorial’s network of sea-service partners.

For Brayboy, the opportunity fulfills something he once told friends at the American Legion.

Years before anyone approached him about participating in a documentary, he recalled sitting with fellow members and expressing his appreciation for the way Three Oaks had embraced his parents.

He told them that someday, if he ever had a microphone and a stage, he wanted to tell the world about their community. Now, through the documentary, he has that opportunity.

“We put this in the atmosphere, and the Sheas made it happen,” Brayboy said.

Although his father will not be there to watch the film, Brayboy believes the retired Marine would be proud of the recognition and the community that inspired it.

He also hopes audiences leave with a renewed willingness to look beyond their differences.

“I haven’t given up on this world,” Brayboy said. “I haven’t given up on this country. I haven’t given up on us getting our s*** together and being, you know, the United States of America.”

For him, that remains a fitting tribute to his father and the town that made the Brayboy family feel at home.

“Flag Day” screens at 2 p.m. E.T. at the United States Navy Memorial in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Nov. 11. Admission is free. Event details and registration are available at the Navy Memorial’s official screening page.