WAYNE COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) - Days before Veterans Day, a school is celebrating in a special way.

A flag donated from the family of a veteran now flies proudly at Vinson Middle School. Stephen Mathews’ family received the flag after he passed away.

His son, Dean Mathews, donated the flag to the school.

“I thought it would be a travesty that it would sit and collect dust and then still be there after I’ve passed on,” Dean said.

Stephen went to Vinson when it was a high school. Having graduated in 1960, he went on to serve in the Navy during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

“He was on the U.S.S. Dupont,” Dean said. “They, along with another ship, actually stopped a Russian vessel and actually boarded it. And my dad was in the radar room there. Still, he said there was a very scary time to be be

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