Military Gear Used To Honor Fallen Heroes Stolen From Truck Bed In Victorville

VICTORVILLE (CBSLA.com) — Military gear used to honor fallen heroes – including the pilot killed in last week's Blue Angels crash -- has been stolen in Victorville.

"We're patriotic and we feel sensitive to the need to acknowledge the price that men and women have paid for us," said Dan Tate of the Don Ferrarese Foundation.

Tate had just come from an event where a missing man table was set up when he says he went inside a Lowe's in Victorville for just five minutes, leaving his gear in the truck bed.

But when he came out, it was gone.

"I don't know if I was demoralized or just infuriated but just to think that somebody thinks that their needs are more important than other people's needs," he said.

Flags, a table and hats from every military branch worth about $1,000 were stolen.

Tate is the founder of the Don Ferrarese Foundation, a charitable organization that awards thousands of dollars in scholarships every year.

He had just come from that event.

To make matters worse, the foundation's namesake, Ferrarese's grandson, was the pilot killed in the Blue Angels crash last week.

The missing man presentation was in his honor.

"There's families behind every one of those people who die and when people see this, it's very emotional," he said.

Tate says it's not the monetary cost that hurts the most, but what they stole from others.

"When you see a 65-year-old, 6-foot-3 Vietnam vet cry, sitting at that table, you'll know why it's so important," he said.

Tate said he didn't file a police report because he says he knows he left his stuff out in the open.

He hopes whoever took the gear will have the heart to return it.