OT - Thoughts from a Veteran

CP92

     I seriously doubt anything I have so say will sway anyone on here, but I will feel better getting it off my chest. I know our country is terribly polarized, and many go out of their way to show how "patriotic" they are. I spent 24 years in the U.S. Navy and I love what the flag of the United States stands for as much as anyone in this country.

      That being said, I see what I feel is so much disrespect for the flag by those who claim to love it. Many I doubt realize how disrespectful they are being. Let's examine the U.S. Code, Title 4, Ch1 - Respect for the flag. 

(d) The flag should never be used as wearing apparel, bedding, or drapery. It should never be festooned, drawn back, nor up, in folds, but always allowed to fall free. Bunting of blue, white, and red, always arranged with the blue above, the white in the middle, and the red below, should be used for covering a speaker’s desk, draping the front of the platform, and for decoration in general.

(g) The flag should never have placed upon it, nor on any part of it, nor attached to it any mark, insignia, letter, word, figure, design, picture, or drawing of any nature.

(i) The flag should never be used for advertising purposes in any manner whatsoever. 

(k) The flag, when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning.

It irks me to no end to see someone wearing a t-shirt with the representation of a tattered U.S. Flag, moreover adorning some brand that supposedly represents itself as affiliated with or supporting the military or patriotism. It's not. It's disrespectful and I wish folks would quit doing it. 

Signed,
A disappointed veteran

dbCooper

Totally agree with your thoughts @CP92

There is a household in my extended neighborhood that flys a U.S. Flag with another flag above it on the mast.  They stay up at night with no illumination.  He was out one day several months back, so I stopped and politely pointed out both errors.  He agreed and said they'd be corrected, but that never happened.

Fully get that the right to dis the flag is protected.  To me it's a right that shouldn't be exercised, ever.

CP92

dbCooper said:

Fully get that the right to dis the flag is protected.  To me it's a right that shouldn't be exercised, ever.

I utterly agree with you on the right to dis; don't have to agree, but absolutely your right. That's one of the things that comes with protecting the flag and all that it represents. 

lousubcap

Above that for me is the oath of appointment to "Support and defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic..."  To me the oath and adhering to the core principals are foundational to the fabric of this country.

You are completely right in that many of those who have taken (and totally lost their way) and never taken the oath have no appreciation for the underpinnings of this country and respect for that flag and all it stands for. 

Off mini soap-box. 

Edit: the power of the Constitution is to allow those protests where the flag sends a symbolic message is part and parcel for what makes this country great. 

littlerascal56

Agree 100%.  My dad was Navy.  Brother was career Air Force.  We all flied the flag on our homes.  I still do, and illuminate it at night.  Many in my neighborhood do same.  It’s part of being proud of the USA.  Too many left wing radicals have desecrated the flag in the past 1.5 years. Sad.

Ike

Surely you've seen the attire at a trump rally

HeavyG

littlerascal56 said:

Agree 100%.  My dad was Navy.  Brother was career Air Force.  We all flied the flag on our homes.  I still do, and illuminate it at night.  Many in my neighborhood do same.  It’s part of being proud of the USA.  Too many left wing radicals have desecrated the flag in the past 1.5 years. Sad.

I'm guessing you didn't understand @CP92's last paragraph.

In any case, as @lousubcap said, the Constitution outranks the flag every day of the week.

I've always found it odd that so many folks that cherish the US flag itself don't seem bothered by the "thin blue line" flag (and its imitators of various colors). While technically they are not US flags they still seem kinda blasphemous to me.

alaskanassasin

It drives me nuts when a business flies a wore out tore up flag.  I drive by a place everyday that has Old Glory laying on top of a building roof, so neglected it fell from the post in tatters.

ksmyrl

@CP92 Thank you for your service.

No matter your politics of choice...the reason you have that choice is due to what Old Glory stands for and the humans who fought to give you that right. We should ALL respect it. The "flag code" should be explained more so those that disrespect it understand it more. Both sides disrespect it. Kneeling at sports events or wearing it as a bandana...both equally disrespectful. 

People are literally dieing every day attempting to come here. I'm guessing most of us on this forum were fortunate enough to be born here. So let's stop hating the USA and try to make it better. You know who you are. 

Keep the faith. 

JohnInCarolina

We could certainly use much better civics lessons in the schools, on this topic and many others.
I would like to see the flag receive the respect it deserves much more broadly.  I don’t think burning the flag is a great way to protest much of anything in this country, for example, but I do understand people have the right to do that.   Effective protests also tend to be those that make the comfortable, well, uncomfortable. 

So while it’s no doubt of value to respect the flag in many ways big and small, we should be mindful to avoid conflating patriotism with blind nationalism.  Being a patriot doesn’t mean agreeing with everything your country is or does; at times it means speaking truth to power in the goal of seeking a more perfect union.  

caliking

HeavyG said:

littlerascal56 said:

Agree 100%.  My dad was Navy.  Brother was career Air Force.  We all flied the flag on our homes.  I still do, and illuminate it at night.  Many in my neighborhood do same.  It’s part of being proud of the USA.  Too many left wing radicals have desecrated the flag in the past 1.5 years. Sad.

I'm guessing you didn't understand @CP92's last paragraph.

In any case, as @lousubcap said, the Constitution outranks the flag every day of the week.

I've always found it odd that so many folks that cherish the US flag itself don't seem bothered by the "thin blue line" flag (and its imitators of various colors). While technically they are not US flags they still seem kinda blasphemous to me.

I’m going to be that guy who says he doesn’t understand the past tense of “fly” , either. 

CP92

HeavyG said:

don't seem bothered by the "thin blue line" flag (and its imitators of various colors). While technically they are not US flags they still seem kinda blasphemous to me.

Those bother me equally as well. The flag is not meant to be co-opted for a cause; which in the case of the thin blue line is arguably a political answer to the Black Lives Matter movement. Again, shameful in my opinion. 

Chris

Buckwoody Egger

Faketriot 

A person who thinks waving the flag -- or wearing it -- is the sole definition for love of country. A faketriot is anyone who complains about another person's lack of patriotism, often while they are busy trampling over someone's rights.

Wearing her red, white and blue bikini, Amy complained about the BLMprotestors blocking the road to the beach, muttering "Go back to your own country" under her breath. She's a real faketriot.

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=faketriot

HeavyG

https://twitter.com/Garrett_Archer/status/1584049600834392064

Saw this in my Twitter feed this afternoon and it struck me as a stereotypical faketriot nutjob. 

Could have used anything to hide their plate but they chose to use a flag. Doesn't look to me like it is just tucked in under the bottom of the license plate - Did they cut the flag in half?

Legume

So many examples.  I’ve driven through some ranch and farming country where I’ve passed literally miles of flags every few hundred yards on a fenceline.  Not lit and surely not removed at night. 

lkapigian

Thank You Your Service, and agreed

CP92

lkapigian said:

Thank You Your Service, and agreed

Thank you; I do appreciate it. 

Legume

How do y’all like that new forum banner?

Ozzie_Isaac

Legume said:

How do y’all like that new forum banner?

Normally, I would have seen that banner and thought nothing of it.  In the context of this thread, I definitely thought about it.

gonepostal

Thank you for posting this. One of the reasons I log on to this site is to learn a little.  Whether it be about food or anything else. And today I did indeed learn.  Mistakes that I have made in the past will be corrected and not repeated.