The American Flag, Symbol of Freedom

The American flag has been a symbol of pride, of hope, of freedom, of liberation, of exceptionalism, of courage, of inspiration, of strength, and of power. It pains me to see anti-American elements, the enemies of freedom, Islamists, communists, and other traitors burn it, trample it, tear it, trash it, and do unspeakable things to it.

Our Stars and Stripes must be properly folded, stored, and disposed of. Yet the Rhode Island Veterans cemetery where Stan Sniezyk’s father and other heroes are buried disposed of piles of torn and dirty American flags into the dumpster and kept them in storage shed. Photographs and even a video outraged patriotic Americans around the country. Stan Sniezyk posted photos of mounds of flags in “Call 12 for Action.” When interviewed, he told WPRI 12, “It just broke my heart because everyone in this cemetery fought under that banner and every fiber of that flag is their blood, sweat, and tears.”

U.S. flags must be stowed properly and prepared for proper disposal by burning. Rhode Island director of Veteran Affairs, Kasim Yarn, seemed shocked that procedures were not followed. http://americanmilitarynews.com/2016/06/video-piles-of-flags-dumped-at-veteran-cemetery-is-a-disgrace-is-causing-an-uproar/?utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=alt&utm_source=colddeadhands

Fortunately, grateful Europeans who were saved by American soldiers fighting on their behalf against fascism, honor, respect, and understand what the American flag means to them. As our country’s most powerful symbols of freedom, the flag was revered by those suffering under the Nazi boot and occupation during WWII. Just seeing the American flag flying proudly in the wind, those in dire straits gave a sigh of relief – the Americans were coming, hope and freedom were around the corner, and everything would be returned to God’s grace and mercy.

Sergeant Donald Hall helped free the Langenstein-Zwieberge German concentration camp in April 1945 as a member of the 83^rd Infantry Division, known as the Thunderbolt Division. The camp was a working camp with a prisoner life-expectancy of six weeks. One of the prisoners he helped liberate found enough materials to make an American flag which he then gave to his rescuers. After the division left, Donald Hall kept the flag and brought it back with him to the U.S. where it was moved several times and eventually stored in an attic.

Understanding the significance of the flag, his daughter, Mary Kay Flege, contacted the U.S. Holocaust Museum. “We siblings – and there are 10 of us – came to understand that the flag must have been a painful reminder for dad of things he had seen at Langenstein and elsewhere in Europe – things that must have been unbelievably tragic and cruel and heartbreaking, certainly not the kind of thing that he could or ever share with his young children, much less other adults in civilian life.” https://jewishlouisville.org/american-flag-made-by-camp-inmates-for-liberators-goes-to-ushmm/

Donald Hall’s extended family, their spouses, ten children and grandchildren, gathered from around the country to participate in a moving signing ceremony, following the donation of this aged-flag, a significant piece of history, to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. https://engage.ushmm.org/2016-power-of-one-artifact.html?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiWlRVM05XTXdOelZsWVdVMCIsInQiOiJjZytHdzJJWUZaWlBTelJHdlVUM0VWWnNlMnlXems0eUZcLzN5SEpSNCtLbzlZUzZZUHZ3bFBRZUN5RnJkZitJU3hKbnBVcTc1Z1U0dXBWSXpIOFlmaGx3WExWN2tEeXpxTmFFb0J6MTM4REE9In0%3D

July 4 is not about watching fireworks, eating hamburgers, hot dogs, and enjoying off time with your family. It is our Independence Day. You are where you are because courageous men before you made it possible, men that have been long forgotten or you’ve never met, read, or learned about.

On our Independence Day, remember and pray for all American patriots, American soldiers, and American heroes who sacrificed their freedoms and gave their lives as an ultimate gift of altruism so that people they never knew could live a better life, free from oppression, and could have the right to express their divergent opinions and liberties every day, however offensive those may be.

Memorial Day Respect for Freedom

Petagon 9/11 Quilt Photo: Ileana Johnson 2016

I don't know why but I choke and tear up when I hear both the Romanian and the American National Anthems.
I see in my mind's eye all the Romanian faceless heroes who died to free us from the oppression of communism and all the American soldiers who perished in their selfless attempts to free so many people they never knew around the world. I feel a deep sense of gratitude; I can never repay their sacrifice but I can honor them by preserving their legacy.
I have a deep respect for the American flag and I fly it every day with pride. If the wind, rain, and sun tear or discolor it, I retire it with proper honors and purchase a new one. I know the sacrifice of living under tyranny and I abhor the American ingrates who trample and disrespect our flag.

My husbnd served both in Iraq and Afghanistan and brought back a folded American flag which was flown over Kabul. This flag has a place of honor in my house. I understand what he had to endure to serve under our beloved flag.
But his suffering pales by comparison with thousdands and thousands of American soldiers who returned in a coffin in the cargo hold of an airplane, saluted, and buried with honors. Their sacrifice and faces were quickly forgotten.
And then there are thousands who came back with deep scars on their souls, without limbs, and deep scars on their faces and bodies, left to fend for themselves in a cruel VA medical system.
Many veterans died waiting to be seen in the shameful VA clinics. After all, what is a little wait of seven months if you consider that waiting in line is just like waiting in line for a ride at Disney, said the callous VA chief.

Rick Monday in one of the greatest plays in baseball history, 1976

One of the greatest plays in baseball history by Rick Monday.
http://agencypages.net/AgencyPages/11-52/

The Stars and Stripes of Glory

We are flying our American flag today in honor of our country’s 237 years of independence from British tyranny.

Our flag celebrates my husband’s 27 years of devoted service to our country and the sacrifice of millions of faceless and unknown Americans before him who gave their all to preserve liberty.

Our flag honors millions of legal immigrants who had sailed to the New York harbor in unspeakable conditions and waited out the quarantine at Ellis Island to come to the new world.

Our flag honors the 4 million legal immigrants who are waiting patiently in their countries for the resolution of visas to come to America, the land of opportunity, the “shining city on the hill.”

So many love America and what it stood for all these years. So many nations owe their freedom to Americans. So many hate America but secretly wish and dream they could live here.

We have a flag on our wall, carefully folded and mounted in a shadow box with a dedication to me – it had been flown over Iraq and Afghanistan. It honors my husband’s service in the “overseas contingency operations” against the “workplace violence” enemy.

On our multi-national street, two families with foreign nationals who are naturalized citizens fly the American flag, our family and an Ethiopian family. Only two American born families fly the American flag. The rest of the street enjoys the freedom in the privacy of their shuttered homes.

My local Wal-Mart was teeming yesterday with a Tower of Babel, non-English speaking shoppers, filling their carts with food bounty from America’s horn of plenty, paying with SNAP and EBT cards, compliments of the federal government, generous with other people’s money and eager to attract any illegals from anywhere as long as they vote the right way.

Are illegals smart enough to realize that Americans have built this abundant nation with hard work, not through government largesse? Do they understand that the government exists because “we the people” have paid taxes and allowed it to exist through our vote? Do they know or care that voting in our country carries a grave responsibility to our future generations? Do they understand that breaking our law, crossing the border illegally, and voting for the same hellhole they’ve escaped from, fundamentally alters the fabric of our society, potentially putting an end to the abundance the illegals are so eager to obtain?

My neighborhood Wal-Mart is a microcosm of what is happening to our country stealthily from within.  The BMW and Mercedes driving bureaucrats who work in D.C. but live in the suburbs do not shop at Wal-Mart, they shop at Costco. They push and vote for illegal immigration amnesty and cheap labor but they hide in gated communities and attend elite cocktail parties.

I drove through neighboring communities and saw on other streets flags of Mexico, El Salvador, Dominican Republic, and Columbia, flown proudly on modest rental homes. The occupants were having barbeques; their children were playing in the yard, or taking a dip in above-ground pools, celebrating. Were they celebrating America? Do they know its history? Do they care and are they here to assimilate, learn English, and make the country better? Or are they here just for the welfare benefits, off-the-books jobs, and the abundant lifestyle?

The Roman Empire was envied by many invading hordes who just wanted the Roman lifestyle and property in the Roman Empire. They were not interested in becoming Roman citizens, assimilating, or speaking Latin. The Romans allowed them in, did not require them to speak Latin, but denied them property. The hordes eventually succeeded in taking over the empire. No need for salvos to bring a successful empire/nation to its knees, just infiltration and erosion from within.

One home was flying the Gadsden flag.  Colonel Christopher Gadsden submitted a design for a yellow flag with a green coiled snake to the Provincial Congress in South Carolina with the words, “Don’t tread on me.” (c. 1775)

Our Star-Spangled Banner, our Old Glory, is not just a symbol of freedom to us; it is who we are in our hearts and souls, law-abiding citizens of a nation blessed by God, “the land of the free and the home of the brave.”

Joseph Rodman Drake (1795-1820) metaphorically described our Old Glory in his 1819 poem, The American Flag:

“When Freedom from her mountain height,

Unfurled her standard to the air,
She tore the azure robe of night.
And set the stars of glory there.”