An East Fishkill woman's tattered American flag has been replaced - just in time to properly celebrate America's independence.

Denise Kellam says her late father would be proud.

Kellam told News 12 when she recently tried to replace her flag on top of a pole in her front yard, the rope pulled through the flag, leaving the flag stuck.

"I just pulled the cord out," she said, "and it just stayed up there."

Contractors told her she would have to pay close to $200 for them to replace the flag, which she could not afford.

She still wanted it done, though, for her father Donald, a Korean War veteran who died in 2021.

"He wanted to respect our country and our Armed Forces the way they should be," she said. "Unfortunately, I'm in a situation where I could not get my flag down. I couldn't afford it."

Kellam even asked for help earlier this week from some East Fishkill Highway Department workers, who were trimming trees in her neighborhood.

She said she later learned they could not help her because public workers cannot do free projects on private property.

Kellam then posted a photo of the raggedy flag on social media.

The post drew much attention and some offers to come take it down.

She said it looked as though the highway department made a call on her behalf to Kohlmaier Arbor Care, not long after her post started making the rounds.

"Apparently, they reached out the company who helped me, and they came this morning and fixed my flag. They felt bad that they couldn't help me, and I appreciate that," she says.

Kellam said that since she works in health care, she is used to helping others, rather than others helping her.

"I swallowed my pride to ask for help, which is not an easy thing, she said. "I think my dad would be very proud of me for swallowing my pride and getting it done. And that's what I did."

Kellam plans to take the old, tattered flag to her local American Legion post where it can be properly disposed of.