Why not? A story about our flag.

April 22, 2007 by Karl.

Good evening, my friends.  Thanks for dropping by.

My neighbor made an astute comment the other day.

We were talking about the recent shootings at Virginia Tech and he asked me why my flag was flying at half-staff.

I told him “because the President ordered it.  Plus, I wanted to show my sorrow about the senseless deaths.”

“When will the President order the flag flown at half-staff for the nearly 4,000 troops who have died in Iraq?” He asked.

I had no answer that made sense.  It was then I realized how true his question was.

Yeah, we give our troops a decent burial and a color guard with all the pageant and ceremony, but don’t they deserve a little more?

Another friend told me something I wasn’t aware of.  Up until a few days ago, when a dead soldier was returned to his home town, the coffin was sometimes unloaded unceremoniously by using a forklift instead of using an honor guard.

It took the objections of the parents of a dead son to change this practice.

Seems sort of callous for someone willing to give his or her all for their country, doesn’t it?  Why didn’t someone notice this before?

And no one flies their flag at half-staff for them.  Why not?

The recent revelations about the treatment of our wounded warriors at the medical center in our nation’s capitol make us shake our heads in anger, but do we really do anything about them?

Our Congressmen/women and Senators will do their usual thing, shaking their fists and pointing fingers at everyone but themselves.  Then they forget about it and go back to raising more money for their next campaign or to fatten their war chests after they retire with full pay.

If one of the members of the Congress or Senate dies, they fly the flag at half-staff for them.  Why?

Our fighting men and women must serve twenty years with much lower pay and then retire with only two and one half percent of their base pay for each year served.  For those of you without a computer, it adds up to fifty percent.  Does this seem fair?

And no one flies the flag at half-staff for them when they die.  Why not?

I also fly another flag, the POW/MIA banner.  But when the United States flag is flown at half-mast, there is no room for this symbol of hope for those missing or prisoners of war.  It’s a shame.

We often ask our military men and women to do the impossible.  When they succeed, if we notice at all, we applaud their efforts and then go on about our business.

“Isn’t that what they volunteered for?” You might ask.

True, but when they fall in battle, we tend to forget them in a short while.  Their parents, friends and loved ones don’t.  Neither does my family.

I fly the flag every day.  When I raise it up, or take it down, I salute our fallen heroes.  I hope they know.

But the powers to be don’t fly the flag at half-staff for them.

When will we?  And how much longer will that symbol of freedom continue to wave if we don’t?

God Bless America and its fighting men and women.

I wonder if there is a flag flying at half-staff up in heaven for them.  I hope so.

No, on second thought, I know so.  God doesn’t forget their sacrifice.

Via Con Dias, My friends,

Karl

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