Why this Mainer keeps walking across Route 1 bridge with an American flag

When driving across the Donald E. Davey bridge between Wiscasset and Edgecomb, one may see Stott Carleton, a 77-year-old Vietnam veteran who marches across the bridge holding aloft an American flag.

Carleton, who lives in Edgecomb, has made the trek across the Route 1 bridge 469 times — marching a mile round-trip each time — since he started the tradition in 2020. As he walks, drivers honk, cheer and wave at him. He always waves back.

His reason for marching is to honor American soldiers who died in combat, he said. Since he started in the early days of the pandemic, his goal has been to bring people hope.

He does the walk with his black Labrador retriever, Skip, loyally padding alongside him.

“I saw how many people it gave hope to during COVID, and I said, ‘I got to do that again.’ My dog said, ‘Yeah you do, dad,’” Carleton said.

One soldier who looms particularly large for Carleton during his walks is his best friend, Donald “Donnie” Workman, who died in combat on the last day Carleton was in Vietnam.

“I’ve never gotten over it,” Carleton said. “I just think about him every day.”

To make the carrying of the flag easier, Carleton wears a special harness that he said someone gave him one day during the pandemic. Before receiving the gift, Carleton used to hold the flag’s staff in his pocket.

He’s not done yet. Carleton has a goal of reaching 500 miles. And though the drivers commuting across the bridge seem to support Carleton with enthusiasm, he said he doesn’t do this walk for any kind of fame. It’s for Workman and all other American soldiers who never returned.

“It’s not about me. It’s about the people who never get home,” Carleton said.