I just read an article about a man in Fresno, Ca who refuses to take his tattered flag down.  His son is serving in Iraq, his son is the one who put it up before leaving.  The man said he promised his son that he wouldn’t take it down.  The weather has beaten this flag pretty bad and it’s ripped, does that make it mean any less to this man?  No it doesn’t but his neighbors are upset and don’t understand why he won’t take it down.  Perhaps they will all shut up when the man’s son comes home today and takes it down.  That’s all this man wanted, he wanted his son to be the one to take it down.  Most of the neighbors on his block are military retirees but apparently they don’t have family serving in Iraq.  Maybe they even forgot what that flag stands for, I don’t know but I’ve seen a flag in worse shape that this man’s. 

          About ten years ago when the condos were being built across the street from my house, the first thing that went up was a flag pole.  The flag that they put up on this thing was huge, it was big enough to cover my mom’s house.  After just a few months of being up and getting pounded by the wind it was in shreds.  It looked like someone had taken the scissors and cut the stripes down the middle.  It looked so much worse that the one in Fresno.  I didn’t complain about it, neither did any of my neighbors.  The company that had left the flag in those conditions had run out of money for their project and went through several loans to fund it.  They were gone for weeks at a time.  When the new owners of the project came they took the flag down immediately. 

          All of the neighbors who complained about the flag in Fresno should have been worried about the flag if it was touching the ground.  I remember when I was a child and I was told that should our flag ever touch the ground it was supposed to be burned in a type of ceramony.  I could only think what was the purpose in that?  Just pick it up and put it back.  What some people won’t complain about, is just amazes me.