Correct me if I am wrong, but I remember something about that flag being carried by the first special ops guys to land in the invasion of Khandahar. And I believe it was raised at the airport when they took that city.
I would have thought the flag returned to the yacht would have been an attempt to replace what was taken that was now a historic artifact. If the owners of the yacht are P.O.ed because the original was not returned, then that opens yet another can of worms for the intent of the article.
I took my father’s veteran’s burial flag to GZ in early 2003 and the guys there raised it over the site after I told them my story. Over a year later a CSM I knew from work I did with the 42ID took the flag to Iraq when they deployed there. It flew over one of Saddam’s palaces. The CSM made sure it got back to me. It will stay in the family forever.