The manager of a Bank of America in Gaffney, SC recently removed flags—American flags—that a distraught family member had posted along a fallen soldier's return route. Why? Because it might offend a few customers. (Fortunately, the bank's official policy seems to differ from the manager's, which is convenient since the American flag serves as their logo.) The manager of an apartment complex in Oregon recently banned all flags, including the American flag, for the same reason.
Ban Americans from flying the American flag to avoid offending someone?
Something has happened to this country, and I don't know what or when the change occurred. After hearing this, and after a particulary disturbing conversation with someone on Facebook, I thought of the monument in Washington DC that depicts the struggle of several men to raise the flag at Iwo Jima. I thought of my grandfather who fought in the Battle of the Bulge. Of my husband's uncle who served as tail gunner during WWII. Of the firemen who raised the flag at the ruined base of the Twin Towers. Of all the men and women who died protecting the freedoms of this country, including those who served in the Middle East drawing fire away from this nation's land, and looking at the direction this country is going in now, with people who think Americans should censure their flag lest it offend others, I wonder if it was all in vain.