Video: Author helps find missing 9/11 flag, says 'good still is going to win

Brad Meltzer, author of New York Times bestselling thrillers, nonfiction, and children’s books, as well as the host of “Brad Meltzer’s Lost History,” joined Pat Gray on “Pat Unleashed” today to share his views on history, heroes, and humanity.

Meltzer talked over a few fascinating historical highlights from his “I am _____” children’s biography series, including, “I am Sacagawea” and “I am Gandhi.”

“One of my heroes growing up was Christopher Columbus, and he has been so tainted over the last two or three decades,” said Pat. “Have you ever considered doing one of these about Christopher Columbus?”

“We as a culture sadly try to rewrite everything and try to find every flaw and, of course, rip the person apart,” said Meltzer. “To me, I think what we have to do is teach our kids that it’s okay to have a flaw. It’s okay to be human. We’ve defined ourselves so often lately in our political party affiliation, and I feel like we’ve really already lost the battle. What happened to being an American? What happened to ... being a human being?”

In the video clip above, Meltzer also talks about the hunt for the missing 9/11 flag, the flag that firefighters raised at Ground Zero that went missing for 14 years. The flag was ultimately returned by a man who was “just trying to do the right thing.”

“In these days as we look around, we feel like: will we ever come together again as a country? Are we losing our moral compass? Have we lost it already? This was one of those moments when I felt like -- especially when we look at the American flag today and can find so many people fighting over it -- but, my God, in that moment it felt like good still is going to win in the world. This was one of those great life-affirming moments.”

We think the world and everyone in it could probably use a few more of those "great life-affirming moments. Don't you?