Respect The Flag

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Lower The Flag

Today I did what the president would not do.  I am paying my respects to the fallen service members slaughtered in Chattanooga last week.

I arose before the sun came up this morning.  I went outside to water my shrubbery and rose bushes while the temperature was still tolerable.  I came inside to get a bite of breakfast before going back outside to water my lawn.  As I sat down to eat, Fox News was interviewing Mike Shepard, a Marine whose love of country runs deep.  Shepard blogs at Dc Gazette.

“Most are fully aware of the president not showing support for our fallen and flags continue flying high in the sky.  He invited the family of a traitor named Bergdhal to the Rose Garden to celebrate the release of our enemy. He has yet to call out the terrorist who shot up two recruiting stations in Chattanooga.  Well, we don’t need permission to show our respect for five lives lost. I am reaching out to you America in hopes that we teach Obama about respect.”

“I say we should come together and fly our flags at half-staff until the 30th of July. The 30th will mark the two week anniversary of this tragedy. Let’s show the president what it is to respect this country and our fallen. If you drive by a business, please go in and ask they fly their flag at half-staff.  If we get the whole country to do it the president might get the message.  The message that he is just one man while we are the voice of America. If he won’t call for flags to be flown at half-staff the American people will. Please share this and together we can show Washington what it means to respect… May God forever bless you all, Shep.” 

“Come join our FaceBook Half-Staff Challenge page and share your thoughts and post pictures of your American Flag at half-staff so Obama can see that We the People want and will honor those brave warriors killed on American soil!”

After watching the interview with Mr. Shepard, I was swept up in his plea to lower the flag outside my home to half-staff.  My neighbors, who were retrieving their morning newspapers, asked why my flag had been lowered. I explained it was to mourn the loss of five of our service members in Chattanooga because The World’s Most Dangerous Community Organizer had not ordered the flag over the White House to be lowered.

Mine is the only home in the neighborhood with an in-ground flagpole. My neighbors asked how they could join in the observance since their house-mounted flags cannot be lowered. I informed them that flagpoles mounted on their homes should have a black ribbon or streamer at the top of the American flag.  Neighbors who only display the Stars and Stripes on the Fourth of July brought out their flags.  I cannot adequately express my gratitude to them for uniting in this expression of respect and mourning.

According to Stars and Stripes, Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) proposed legislation to arm recruiters against attacks similar to Chattanooga.  On Monday, his staff criticized the president for not issuing a proclamation to lower flags.

“They deserve our respect, and the significance of this event should be matched by the lowering of the flag,” said Joe Kasper, Hunter’s chief of staff. “It’s a simple gesture that will reaffirm to the military and millions of Americans that these servicemen will be rightly honored. This is one that shouldn’t take any second thought on the part of the White House.”

The president eventually ordered flags to be flown at half-staff at the White House in the noon hour, but not before critics and the American public condemned him.  Shameful.  Simply shameful.

Freedom’s Shield And Hope

A passerby snapped this picture of two Navarino, WI boys who were riding their bikes on Memorial Day on a street lined with American flags.  Parker Diemel, 12, and Ayden Lengo, 11, spotted one that had fallen into a ditch.  They picked it up and got it back to where it needed to go.

Old Glory has no other character than that which we pass on from generation to generation.

Kevin Conradt, Navarino Town Chairman, says he’s proud to have such wonderful kids growing up in Navarino: “People desecrating the flag and the protests and the riots and the stuff that’s going on. It’s really nice to see some young kids stepping up to the plate.”

The young heroes showed true patriotism—a testament to how our flag speaks majestically to us of our past and the sacrifices made by the men and women who went before us.

Ayden’s mom said, “…I’m glad he knew the American flag is something he should be proud of and take care of.”

The Spirit Of America

Photo credit:  Ethan Miller/Las Vegas Sun

Edmund Burke once said, “He that wrestles with us strengthens our nerves and sharpens our skill.  Our antagonist is our helper.”  Burke lived during the 18th Century and is remembered primarily for his support of the cause of the American Revolutionary War and the thirteen colonies that were struggling to break free of the British Empire.

Today, America wrestles with the filthy heresy of Islam and the Muslims who wish to do us harm.

On September 12, 2001 the spirit of America awoke from its slumber.  The American flag began to fly everywhere we looked to show defiance against the terrorists.  The sight of Old Glory was a rallying cry for a wounded nation.

NBC’s Tom Brokaw commented, “Almost as soon as the Twin Towers came down the flags went up.  They began to grow in every crevice of America.  Someone said the sight of them is like countless bandages of patriotism covering a nation’s wounds.”

Around 5:00 PM on September 11, 2001 Daniel Williams, a NYFD firefighter saw the American flag attached to a yacht that was docked on the Hudson River and grabbed it. On his walk back to Ground Zero, Williams was joined by fellow firefighters George Johnson and William “Billy” Eisengrein.  The three spotted a flagpole about 20 feet above street level and climbed up to raise the flag as photographer Thomas E. Franklin captured the image.

The image captured by Franklin, a staff photographer for The Record in Bergen County, N.J., was quickly picked up by national newspapers, magazines and television networks. Many felt it was reminiscent of Joe Rosenthal’s imageof the Marines raising the flag on Iwo Jima during World War II.

A picture that was snapped on September 12, 2001 by Las Vegas Sun photographer Ethan Miller captured the image of a little 3-year-old girl sitting on her dad’s shoulders at a candlelight vigil at the Thomas & Mack Center.  Miller struggled to get the picture he knew would be “special.”

"There was that one moment when she lifted her other hand and then the flag unfurled—I got one frame off as she did that, and that was the photo. The little girl looked up at the same time that she raised her hand and her eyes caught the light.  All of these sad adults were around her, and she looked so innocent" as she lifted her eyes skyward as if “beseeching the help of a higher power,” said Miller.

The hope of a nation was captured in that moment.  The picture of little Alana Milawski is without a doubt my favorite iconic image of September 11th.

We don’t see flags flying from porches or lining the streets of America like we did 13 years ago.  Seeing that picture again has inspired me to do something I should have done years ago. Tomorrow I will buy a 20-foot in-ground flagpole complete with eagle ornament.  I’ve already called my handyman to arrange for its installation. 

Maybe I can inspire my neighbors to fly Old Glory too.  I think I’ll visit my neighborhood Walmart and purchase a handful of flag pole sets and pass them out.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the demand for flags would soar again to bolster a nation’s morale and the sight of flags once again began to grow in every crevice of America?