Retired Panama City Beach firefighter ‘Flag man’ ran miles to leave a piece of patriotism

BAY COUNTY, FL. ( WMBB ) – A 20-year tradition that has caught the eye of many tourists and Panama City locals. Little American flags have been decorating sand castles around the beach and many have begun to wonder where they came from.

Joe Cocco, a retired Panama City Beach firefighter and patriot began running miles down the shoreline leaving a small piece of patriotism and a big smile.

“Well, I guess it was just like a patriotic gesture, I guess. You know, really being a proud father of my son wanted to join one of the toughest military groups there is in the United States. You know, being a marine, that’s a pretty proud thing,” Joe Cocco said.

A tradition beginning over 20 years ago to honor his son has become something bigger and more meaningful than he could have ever imagined.

“It’s really nice for me when a child reacts to me giving them a flag and then they kind of want to run back and tell their parents about. It’s kind of like I almost feel like the ice cream man in the sense that I’m the ice cream man. You know, it’s kind of they get really excited about getting the flag and they want to kind of tell their parents about it,” Cocco said.

Frequent beachgoers have noticed his consistency throughout the years and were curious about who he was and why he does it.

“I just enjoy helping people. I’m a member of the Optimus Club. We have a great bunch of gentlemen that do a lot of things for the youth here in Panama City Beach. So really, I enjoy doing service-oriented kind of things here in Panama City,” Cocco said.

His kindness and mystery gave him the name ‘flag man’ and a Facebook page of his fans began deciphering who he was and when he was making his rounds, just hoping to get their hands on one of these flags.

“The kids make them sandcastles or a group of kids together or I see a veteran with like a veteran’s hat on from a past war. I try to give them to the vets,” Cocco added.

Next time you’re at the beach in Bay County keep an eye out for those flags and you may just see the flag man himself.

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