American Flag

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Today I am grateful for the American Flag. Like so many other Americans I am horrified by the senseless loss of life in Chattanooga, Tennessee. To learn that anyone, anywhere, was brutally murdered upsets me more than I can say. When it happens to members of my countries military, who were not in a combat zone, but merely going about their day, doing their jobs, my words can do nothing but fall flat.

Social media is being slammed with anger because our president has not issued a decree to fly flags at half-staff for the victims in Chattanooga. But not by me. I am not angry with him. Of course, it’s an honor to have the flag dropped for you, but where does it stop? If we were to fly the federal government flags at half-staff at every heinous incident that occurs in our nation each day, it would never be flying full on. Soon that special honor would be defused into a same-old, same-old, daily occurrence.

I feel the same degree of horrible when I learn of “troops” who were killed in war zones in foreign lands. “Troops”? What an impersonal title for our sons and daughters. I hate to hear of explosions or terrorist attacks of any kind. I’m upset by train crashes and horrible fires and bad accidents and shootings and the loss of human life in children’s hospitals or cancer wards. I function. But I also care. My internal flag drops to half-staff often.

If you feel strongly that our flag should be flown at half-staff for those in Chattanooga, then please go ahead. Let your home or business reflect your sadness. And if you do, be sure to do it correctly by first raising it to the top of the pole, letting it rest for a couple of seconds, then dropping it to half. When you take it down at night, raise it back up to the top, hold. . .and then lower it all the way.

You don’t need permission from the local, state, federal government. . .or social media. . . to fly the American Flag, full on,. . .or half-staff in your heart.

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