American flags sprang up in high and low places around July 4—spray-painted on people’s lawns, in the news (lamentfully), and atop the mountains of Southern California. A band of friends from Santa Clarita ensured a flag would fly atop a mountain near Pico Canyon Park, near their homes, replacing the old and torn one that had previously fallen. Brandon Park, 18, used to see that old flag flying every day from his bedroom window when he woke up. One day, he saw it was gone. Park and his friends, then high school seniors, toyed with the idea of restoring the Stars and Stripes that had become a landmark of Stevenson Ranch. Andy Chaidez, 17, went so far as to scale the mountain for a closer look; it was no small feat, as he learned, breaking his finger in the attempt. But the friends persisted, fancying the idea akin to a …