Vietnam Veterans Echo Date : 01-Jun-90 From : Dale Malone To : Dave LevinsonSubject : Flag Burning
DL> I beleive I may know your thoughts on the subject but I just
DL> thought I'd ask. How do you feel about the flag burning
DL> issue. The reason I asked is because I thought you said you
DL> were in the military a while ago. I do not wish to offend,
DL> but I am looking for various view points so that I may learn
DL> and grow from others.
Excellent purpose. Also don't jump to conclusions. Hear me out.
I spent three tours in Viet Nam, and a total of 12+ years in the Air Force. My step-father was career Navy, so as far back as I can remember, I have been associated with the armed forces.
Our family has a long and honorable record of service to our country (we were poor and uneducated, so maybe that is an excuse).
Upon first reflection, the burning of the flag is a desecration of an honorable symbol, not to be tolerated (hold it, hold it, not finished yet).
But that is too pat. The Flag is, after all, just a piece of cloth. Because I put my life on the line for it, and my brother (A Green Beret in the Tri-border area of Laos, Cambodia, and Viet Nam with the Montagnards), and my other brother (never left the U.S. because two of us were already in South Viet Nam), and my brother-in-law (military policeman in IV Corps, the Delta), does not mean I would shed my, or anyone else's blood to defend a piece of cloth.
It is the idea that it represents that is worth giving your life for, not the piece of cloth. Same way with a Bible. If I blow my nose on a page from Matthew, it is not a mortal sin, it is just a physical act.
I think, that upon deeper reflection, I find it very fitting that someone would burn our flag as a statement. Etiquette requires that if a flag is sullied, or has served an honorable period of time, that it is to be retired by burning it.
So I see the act as being perfectly fitting. That the flag is being honorably retired by a disrespectful thug. In fact, it makes me feel very happy!
Hope that provides you with some insight from here.
Written by Dale E. Malone, What
does the flag mean to you?
The Great & Wonderful Kahuna wants to know!
Last
modified: April 26, 2009