Carmen Footer, one of the three Freeport Flag Ladies, has returned to the Freeport home they share at 17 School St. following open heart surgery.

Elaine Green said that she and JoAnn Miller, the other parts of the threesome, took Footer home Friday morning. Footer, 72, underwent heart surgery March 21 at Maine Medical Center in Portland.

“She was only supposed to be in intensive care for a day, but things went wrong with her blood pressure, and then she had a collapsed lung,” Green said. “Finally, on the fourth day, things started getting better.”

Since Sept. 11, 2001, the three women stand on the corner of School and Main streets every Tuesday morning from 8 to 9, dressed in patriotic garb and waving the American flag. They drive their signature flag-designed van to events supporting the military wherever and whenever they can.

All three worked in the medical field, and that’s where they met.

“She’s a real trooper,” Green said of Footer. “We’ve got high expectations for her. We know what to do and what to watch for. Patients recover better at home.”