I have, hanging on a wall in my study, an American flag. It was a gift given to me by a nice group of young fellows some 20 years ago in a faraway place called Grafenwoehr, Germany.
They were members of the 1st Platoon, B Company, 2nd Battalion, 48th Infantry (Mechanized) of the 3rd Armored Division. The finest group of gentlemen I have ever had the pleasure to know.
I was a lieutenant and the platoon leader. I flew the flag from the antenna on my armored personnel carrier.
A constitutional amendment to prohibit desecration of the American flag currently is being considered in the U.S. Senate (Editorial, July 7).
I served in the military for several reasons. I felt then as I feel now that citizens should gladly volunteer their services to their country, in whatever capacity, for a portion of their lives. I felt then as I do now that the flag is a symbol that represents a republic based on the understanding that human beings have certain rights granted to them by nature, and that one of these rights is the freedom to think and speak freely; our republic, to which we pledge allegiance, guarantees those rights.
This proposed amendment and the people who support it want to remove that right, and that is the bottom line.
If the awful day arrives when such a terrible idea becomes law, then I will take this flag down from my wall, take down my few awards and acknowledgements of service, go out into the yard and I will burn them to ashes. It will be done in the fond memory and with the high regard for those fellows with whom I served and who now, with the nearing passage of this amendment, seem to have been so cruelly forgotten.
