| Wednesday, July 05, 2006 |
| Flag Etiquette |
Did you hear the loud boom today? No, it wasn't fireworks. It was my mind slapping shut.
Immediately following Sgt. Lieurance's death in Iraq on August 22, 2005, businesses and even the post office in Seymour lowered the U.S. Flag to half-staff in his honor. At the time I thought it was a fitting tribute. But, today, I read an article in the Wall Street Journal concerning flying the U.S. Flag at half-staff to honor soldiers killed in combat, and it was very enlightening.
According to the U.S. Flag Code, adopted in 1942, a state governor can proclaim that the National flag be flown at half-staff "in the event of the death of a present or former official of the government of [that] State, territory, or possession of the United States." The code never suggests that lowering the flag for a fallen soldier is acceptable.
While the Flag Code imposes no penalties for misuse of the U.S. Flag, it does provide guidelines for States. Currently, there are 16 states where flags are regularly lowered for fallen soldiers.
It is poor precedence.
During World War II, Tennessee soldiers were killed at a rate of four a day. If the Governor decided during the war to honor each soldier killed, the flag would rarely have been flown at full-staff. How demoralizing would that have been? While at war, fly the flag at half-staff?
So, my mind is made up and there's no need for discussion: When displaying a flag to honor a fallen soldier, fly it aloft and free! |
posted by Joe Napalm @ 12:27 PM   |
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| 3 Comments: |
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This is a true question, not trying to be smart, would you want it lowered for you?
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I would want it flown higher. If I were killed in action, put an extension on the pole and raise it higher for more to see.
Man, we have a beautiful flag!
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Random comment:
Have you seen the following
http://www.transformersmovie.com/
or
http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/spiderman3/site/
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This is a true question, not trying to be smart, would you want it lowered for you?