BARTONVILLE, Ill. -- After a nearly worldwide journey that included many stops to perform patriotic duty, a missing flag has found its way home to Peoria County.

Some time before Sept. 11, 2001, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, a small variation of the American flag disappeared from its place of display next to Rosemary Gray's mailbox in Bartonville.

Initially, Gray, 45, who had bought the flag only two weeks before, was miffed.

"I thought, 'Who the heck stole my $2 flag?"' Gray said recently. "There are teenagers around, so I blamed them at first."

But when Gray found out what really happened to her flag, it brought tears of joy to her eyes.

The flag reappeared on Gray's doorstep one night in early March, along with a letter of apology.

"I was out for about an hour or an hour and a half ... and came back to find my flag sitting propped up against my front door," she said. "At first, I thought I had a stalker. It was creepy until I read the letter."

According to the letter, the flag was taken to spread patriotism to the families at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, and then wound up traveling the world with American GIs. The letter said the little flag was displayed in base housing in Germany, flew with soldiers during humanitarian food drops in Iraq and other parts of the Middle East, visited vacationing soldiers in Guam and China, and even made an appearance at a Pizza Hut in Luxembourg.

World traveler

Along with the letter, Gray got some other items to show and tell about, including eight foreign coins from eight different countries.

But she holds no grudge.

"It wasn't stolen; it was just borrowed," she said.

While the flag has returned home, Gray does not plan to return it to its original location.

After its long journey, the flag is now officially retired from active duty.