My wife Judy and I like to entertain people at our home. We live in an area where people typically need directions to our house. Invariably, whenever we give people the directions, it always ends with “….the house with the American flag on it.”
The fact that flying an American flag easily differentiates me from everyone on my block is disturbing in and of itself as we approach one of the weekends where flying an American flag is actually chic: Memorial Day weekend.
In preparation for this column, just to sorta see how many flags were flying around the neighborhood, I found on average about 1 in 8 were flying flags the Wednesday before this column appeared. I’m sure it will be more by Friday or at least Monday, Memorial Day itself.
Remember the days and weeks that followed 9/11? You almost got called out for not having some sort of American flag on your car/home/person at that time. The patriotism and flag-waving fervor that existed then was at an all-time high. My god, they were selling “Patriot Packs” of flags for your car, home and office! “Be more patriotic than your co-workers! Show your neighbors how much you love your country! Buy the Patriot Pack now!”
I’m not trying to imply we need to wrap ourselves in the American flag like Rocky Balboa or anything, but the fact that it’s only at July 4th and Memorial Day and Veterans Day that we feel compelled to show our patriotism bothers me.
And it’s not just the general American public that has slowly put their collective attention to the flag’s meaning on the back burner. The American media, for the most part, almost never writes about our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. When the “coalition” first invaded Iraq with the “Shock and Awe” campaign, certainly our media’s attention was captured. It was in the months after 9/11, and it was felt that our trillion dollar technology and massive man-power would make short work of the Iraqis, just as it did during Desert Storm.
Well, as history has shown the past several years, it has not been that easy. Invading Baghdad and the rest of Iraq was a far different animal than driving them out of Kuwait in 1991. It has been a costly and brutal war that has lasted far longer than just about everyone thought it would, with the arena’s emphasis shifting from Iraq to Afghanistan over the past 18 months or so.
I guess I’m especially familiar with this on a personal level due to the fact that my son-in-law, Army Sgt. David Santell, is currently serving his third tour overseas. His first two tours were in Iraq. He currently is in Afghanistan. My step-daughter (and David’s wife) Larissa lives with his absence hour-to-hour, day-to-day, text-to-text, phone call-to-phone call. She’s only gotten a couple of weeks with him home for “R and R” with him coming home for good in the late fall of this year.
David’s a great guy: gregarious, fun-loving, intelligent, a lot more mature than his age for sure. Our family loves him very much and is eager for him to come home. It can’t come soon enough. We just want him out of harm’s way. We are so proud of his duty to our country, but we want him home. I guess we don’t feel any differently than anybody who has family wearing the uniform in Afghanistan or Iraq. I guess we aren’t any different than the family of Marine LCPL Richard Penny were before they were given word that Richard was killed in action in Afghanistan a few weeks ago.
Richard was from our area. You probably heard about it on my show and on the TV stations in our area. But just as importantly to me is that, ironically, Richard knew David and was very good friends with Larissa. His death was a serious blow to our community, and an unbearable loss for Richard’s friends and family, of which my step-daughter proudly was, and is.
Richard was beloved by all who knew him well, and his death served as another reminder that the war is not just in the mountains of Kabul, or the sands of Tikrit. It is in every neighborhood in our country where spouses, mothers, fathers, children and all family members and friends pray daily for the safe return for their brave warriors to their homes.
It’s just tragic that it takes the death of someone like Richard to appreciate what our brave warriors are doing with their lives. This weekend, lets try and remember not just those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for the American way of life, but let’s also remember to be so grateful for those in harms way wearing uniform TODAY. If we can do that with the simple gesture of flying the American flag outside our homes, that’s probably not too much to ask. And not just when the calendar tells us to.
Jon Williams is a contributor for the Fayetteville Flyer. He also hosts “The Jon Williams Show” mornings on Clear Channel’s 93.3 The Eagle and has lived in Northwest Arkansas for 20 years. Jon’s world revolves around his son Jack and wife Judy, and invites you to join the Loyal and Royal Army of his listeners on Facebook. For more of Jon’s contributions, visit his author page.
Well done, Jon! God Bless America!
sad to think that our nation is sending kids home from school for wearing american flag t-shirts and telling veterans they cannot fly the flag in their own yards these days
We have special flag days as a reminder of American sacrifice and accomplishment, not because we forget our patriotism the rest of the year. An extra helping of stars and bars brings something proud into a celebratory context. I wouldn’t slight my neighbors for not doing it every day.
I’ve helped raise and lower flags at the VA. Servicepeople demand our respect. I’m no pinko. Still, our shared American heritage can be embraced in ways external to the symbol.
Taken to extremes, the symbol ignores what it stands for. An axe-wielder recently broke into Dutch cartoonist Kurt Westergaard’s house because of a harmless political cartoon with the figure of Mohammed as a bomb. He hid in a “panic room” and was not harmed. Why should a Dutch cartoonist has a panic room in his house? Over a symbol? Do people get that worked up over symbols?
Flying the flag appropriate to the rules of display is a noble gesture. If you want be an even better American, be an informed citizen, regularly question authority from the local level to the national level, and promote personal liberties over all other concerns and passions of society. The flag is prideful, but it is no guarantee of your qualities as an American. Contributing to the American way of life every day through awareness, involvement, and productivity is what matters most.
My grandfather served in Korea. I have some very good friends that have served in Kosovo and Afghanistan. I’ve lost a couple friends fighting in wars. I absolutely support the job our troops are doing and the sacrifices made by them and their family. With that said, I couldn’t disagree more with the general tone of this article. You’re disappointed/distrubed more people don’t buy and fly more flags? Flags that are for the most part made in China. Anyone can buy a $3 flag magnet at Walmart and slap it on their SUV. Does that make you feel better, Jon? Are they supporting our troops and country more than I am since I decide not to fly a flag, slap a magnet on my car or outwardly display patriotism in other way. I support this country by volunteering with charities such as Big Brothers. Donating money to charities I believe improve the quality of life in America. Being kind to my neighbors and by voting. So what if I don’t have a flag in my front yard? Maybe you’d like to see a law passed requiring people to display American flags in their yard? Would that make you feel more comfortable? I’ve enjoyed your last couple articles, but honestly I think this one pretty much stunk from beginning to end. Also, I’m pretty sure you lifted that “patriot pack” line from a David Cross bit; but I could be wrong. I hope your son-in-law makes it back safe and is able to return to a happy and fulfilling civilian life.
@In Pel…who told veterans they couldn’t fly flags in their yard? Just curious, as I haven’t heard about that. That would be an awful injustice if that were truly the case.
jon first of all let me thank you for a very well written and touching article. it is so good to hear that people at home still care and still worry about us over here. now i must for a moment speak directly with infidel and the others here who have gone through such great pains to take from this article. as a citizen of this country i have never been found of symbols for the sake of symbols. it is what the symbol represents which gives it a way to speak to the masses in a way that the bearer cannot. yet as a soldier it is the idea behind that flag for which i see my brothers and sisters in arms die for every day. indeed you can be patriotic and not fly a flag sure but as a defender of freedom and the amarican way of life, i see it as an open show of strength and unity in these uncertain times. i would never say someone is wrong for not flying a flag but why not fly on and show our comunities as one undeniable intity that we are america and we are damn proud of it
While displaying the American flag can be a showing of patriotism it isn’t the only way to show one’s patriotism. And while I appreciate and respect the service and sacrifice your loved ones have given this country, please remember that the soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan are not the only soldiers serving and sacrificing for our country and getting killed in the process. Please lets remember ALL of the soldiers and ALL of us families who have loved ones serving our country overseas and those serving on our own land.
Infidel & Morgan, good counterpoints with which I fully agree. Patriotism is a good thing when implemented meaningfully. To me, flying a flag every day, having a flag lapel pin, etc… what are you trying to prove? Faith in your country, like faith in a religion, are best demonstrated through your living those values. Part of what makes me proud of this country are those who volunteered to serve in the armed forces now and previously, and those who exercise their constitutional rights to question why we would send these defenders into harm’s way for dubious reasons. We’ve now been in Afghanistan for almost nine years; in Iraq, more than seven years.
I want our people home. NOW. If we haven’t achieved our objectives over there in this length of time, we won’t ever. We fought in WWII for about 3.5 years.
You want me to be more patriotic? Don’t waste our people in such a way. They deserve better. We deserve better. Like Infidel, I exhibit my patriotism by participating in the electoral process, supporting and working to ensure equal rights and opportunities for all (men, women, children, straight, gay, black, white, Christian, Muslim, atheist, etc.), and condoning freedom of expression for everyone. You’re free to believe whatever wrong-headed thing you want in this country, which is part of what makes it great. We don’t have to agree about much, but we have to all agree to defend each other’s right to embrace and protect that freedom.
Patriotism means supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.
I find it interesting that patriotism is demonized by some on the left when there’s a Republican in office, and now that we have a lefty in office, its still….somehow….bad?
I think the flag stands for the American ideals of individual rights and freedom, the right to dissent and the rights we all seem to often take for granted.
It doesn’t, like some other flags throughout history, stand for mindless adherence to whatever tyrant is in power. It stands for the right to destroy itself if necessary. Burn it, wrap yourself in it. The flag itself stands for your rights to do either. Its unique in history of all flags for that reason. But I personally think we should all respect it.
While our republic isn’t perfect, its still the best thing going on this crazy planet, in my opinion.
I dislike our government most of the time, but I will never dislike the ideals upon which this country was founded.
Thats what the flag stands for, not some suit in an office somewhere.
I think some of you guys get caught up too much in politics and forget what America is really supposed to be about: Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and respecting the rights of others to the same.
I’d like to clarify. I don’t hate those who consider themselves to be Liberal. I hate the seemingly popular Liberal post-modernist idea that everything conventional or traditional is bad and outmoded or even “evil”.
Its pretentious beyond measure for one to assume that someone who flies an American flag does so thoughtlessly or out of tradition only.
The same goes for those who adhere to certain religious beliefs, and other “less modern” ideas. I find post-modernism to be extremely cynical and more closed-minded than the conventional wisdom its adherents seek to usurp.
I wonder what Abel Tomlinson thinks about all of this.
burgerboy–
Oh, really?
Results of a quick Google search:
evil liberal (no quotation marks): 2,130,000 citations
evil liberals (no quotation marks): 2,990,000 citations
evil conservative (no quotation marks): 1,740,000 citations
evil conservatives (no quotation marks): 1,030,000 citations
“evil liberal” (with quotation marks): 15,100 citations
“evil liberals” (with quotation marks): 73,800 citations
“evil conservative” (with quotation marks): 31,800 citations
“evil conservatives” (with quotation marks): 94,800 citations
In each case, I had to go through several pages of citations containing the word “conservative” before I found one that was clearly from a liberal referring to a conservative. Most of the top citations refer to Evil Conservative Radio and Evil Conservative Industries, which are associated with Glenn Beck– who, not knowing any better, thinks his appropriation of the term is a joke. In other words, most of the top citations appear to be self-deprecating.
On the other hand, the citations containing the word “liberal” are more mixed from the top, and in the case of “evil liberals” (with and without quotation marks), the top links are to conservative sources. While there are numerous self-deprecating uses of “evil liberal(s)”, there is clearly a greater tendency for conservatives to label liberals as evil.
It has been my experience on blogs, on Facebook, and in real life that conservatives are more likely to consider and proclaim that liberalism is evil that the other way around.
God you guys have way too much time on your hands…..I googled, “People with way too much time on their hands” and found out that there were no results because no one cares about people with way too much time on their hands. Of course conservatives refer to liberals as being “evil” more often then vice versa. This is because in general conservatives have some sort of religion and most atheistic or other non-religious types are going to claim to be liberal. What I hate is when liberals are so full of the word “liberal” that when they speak that is all that comes out. “Oh I want to meet more liberals”. When if they actually met 98% of the liberals out there, they would realize that “liberal” should be just a term for idiot. Evil, no. Idiot, yes. Most people claiming to be liberals actually have no idea where the word comes from or what it means today. Most think that it just means, “thinking outside the box” or “creative”. Just a bunch of stupid hippies, yuppies and irresponsible humans that don’t take responsibilities for their actions…..*cue the next Civil War.
Conservative should also be a term for idiot…
hagaga–
I believe I wasted less time writing about something for which there is evidence than you did writing about– um… whatever you wrote about.
@hagaga
I am not sure where your post went but my guess is it was deleted because you stooped to ad hominem attacks and when seemingly unable to defend your stated opinion you just resorted to calling David Franks a stupid American who ignores important issues in favor of stupid subjects. What seems odd is the fact that even though you have trashed people for wasting time of stupid issues, in your opinion, you’ve done exactly the same thing you are calling them out on. How’s that for smart?
@burgerboy
I did not suggest for a moment that all people who fly the flag, American or otherwise, do so out of a sense of tradition or without thought. I do believe though that there are some who fly it without ever stopping to consider what it really means to them. I also think it’s pretentious beyond measure to assume that those who are not flying the flag are somehow less patriotic than those who do. As far as the liberals vs conservative crap about who calls out the other for being more evil? I wouldn’t know since I claim neither one of those labels. Labels don’t make people close-minded – ignorance and stupidity and hatred to that all on their own. There is plenty of those qualities in both the liberal and conservative movements. If I had to vote on which movement has more of those qualities it would have to be the conservatives. Sorry, that’s just the way I see it. In the end I don’t worry too much about it because my son’s generation will be in charge in a couple of more decades and they are pretty open-minded and tolerant from what I’ve seen.
Morgan–
hagaga’s posts are in place at the moment.
hagaga–
I Googled “People with way too much time on their hands” (with quotation marks) and got 17,700 hits– more even than “evil liberal” (with quotation marks). Your first post above was the sixteenth citation; your results may vary.