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It's today!
Off the Wall
June 14, 2007
By now, I hope you've realized it, today is Flag
Day.
It's become apparent, most Americans feel that they
can take that symbolic piece of material and wear it any way
they want, showing their patriotic loyalty to our country.
So, whether sections of our red, white and blue
are sewn onto their blue jeans, hats, purses or pant bottoms,
it really doesn't matter. It is their way of showing they stand
for the freedom that our country has come to know throughout
the ages.
Just because I don't necessarily believe flag lovers
should do that, I'm not going to harp on that subject today.
Instead, I'm going to tell you a few stories that might interest
you concerning our United States flag.
Many years ago, when my brother-in-law from New
Zealand first visited our country after marrying my sister, he
was awestruck to see so many of our countrymen displaying flags
not only in their yards, on sticks hand held and from flagpoles
jutting out from the frameworks on the various dwellings.
One of his visits brought him to Latrobe during
the first part of July. He was definitely taken aback to see
so many flags everywhere. It was a real spectacle to him.
So what's the big deal, you may ask?
It became quite a revelation to me when I was told
that people in New Zealand don't wave their flags as people do
in the United States. My sister, Betsy, told me that "Leigh
was so impressed by this that he has two flag poles suspended
from his office window, one holding a US flag, and the other
of New Zealand."
On one of her trips to Germany, my foreign correspondent
(Sister Bets) related about that country's custom.
"Since the war," she related, "there
has been a strong tendency among individuals rather than by government
agencies not to display the flag. However, because of the recent
world soccer matches in Germany and the success of that country's
team, Germans are now taking the opportunity to display their
flag with pride."
Mrs. Marshall also told me about another observation
that caught her attention while touring Europe.
After staying overnight in a hotel, she walked out
into the hallway that had a view of the dining facilities on
the bottom floor. Looking down from several flights above, she
could see employees readying a number of tables for anticipated
guests. Much to her shock, people were draping American flags
on the flat surfaces to be used as table cloths. Knowing that
this type of practice was strictly taboo, she hastened to the
restaurant to inform those taking part that such a practice would
not be tolerated by other Americans.
She was told that a nearby industry was trying to attract people
from the U.S. to come and work for it and thought by using the
flag, it would be a nice touch. Betsy told them they wouldn't
receive it that way and the flags should be removed. Needless
to say, they respected her comments. "That's my sister!!!"
Getting back to Latrobe, I happened to be
walking outside my house on Ligonier St. when I casually glanced
over to my neighbor's house and saw the American flag suspended
from a pole. I thought to myself, this is Mother's Day. Maybe
because this day is an American tradition, the flag is being
hung in commemoration of a national holiday.
Speaking of Mother's Day, my daughter and I were
searching for a card for my wife when I chanced upon one that
caught my attention. It showed a woman dressed in the American
flag with part of the stars covering one portion of her body,
another color of blue shading her pants and hair, and stripes
of red and white across the rest of her front. The words inside
the card read, "It's O.K. to wear stripes horizontally."
When you consider when flags become old, and have
to be destroyed, the process is done, in a sense, ceremoniously.
Then shouldn't our clothes with flags attached be treated alike
instead of being tossed out? Just a thought.
Paul j. volkmann
5/15/07
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