Update:
Watch President Obama during his surprise Memorial Day visit to our troops in Afghanistan refer to the American flag recovered at the Twin Towers site and now on display at the National September 11 Memorial Museum (discussed below) as “Our flag is still there” in the video below at the 18:21 mark.
One of the most solemn, gut-wrenching memorabilia among the hallowed collection of more than 10,000 heartrending artifacts at the recently dedicated National September 11 Memorial Museum is, in my opinion, a crumpled, badly scorched American flag that somehow withstood the horrors of that day at the World Trade Center.
The American flag, whether charred or covered by 9/11 dust and ash, whether proudly flying over our National and State Capitols; whether waving in the breeze on a little flagpole in someone’s front yard; whether presented, neatly folded, to the wife, husband, son or daughter of a fallen soldier at his or her graveside or whether forever enshrined in a glass case at our September 11 Memorial Museum represents a source of pride, heritage and inspiration for millions of Americans.
The Stars and Stripes is to most of us an almost sacred icon — a symbol of our country, our history, our freedoms and our way of life.
To those of us who took an oath to defend that flag and to serve under it, but especially to those who fought for that flag and who saw their comrades give their lives for that flag, it can be disturbing to watch how many Americans, because of carelessness or unawareness, do not properly display or fly the flag.
Don’t get me wrong, Americans love and respect their flag.
During times of national crisis or celebration, personal loss or joy, Americans use our flag — whether at full or half-mast — to express such emotions.
Perhaps there is no better recent example of such outpouring of national love for the flag than just after that dreadful September Day almost 13 years ago. The September 11 Memorial Museum:
In the wake of the September 11 attacks, American citizens were vehement in procuring and displaying flags and related patriotic merchandise from local retailers. Newspapers like the New York Times provided colorful printed American flag inserts that could be adapted for window display. Although a long familiar sight within government buildings schools and municipal offices, flags quickly proliferated on homes and business facades throughout the nation. Sartorially, they festooned automobile antenna and highway overpasses, uniting to create a pervasive expression of pride of country and democratic values in the face of grief, confusion, anxiety and global volatility.
According to the Museum, inspired by the wave of patriotism following 9/11, artist and Long Island restaurateur, Ziggy Attias, collected “flags and partial remnants of them, which had blown off cars and bridges, strewn along the road shoulders of the Sunrise Highway, Route 27 in Eastern Long Island” and donated his collection of approximately 150 American flags to the 9/11 Memorial Museum.
Attias says about his collection, “I found flags in many sizes, and at times just fragments…Some were stuck in bushes or trees, some mixed in with trash, some wet and muddy, others frozen in ice. As one flag gradually became a collection of many, the significance of them and all that they represented grew. As a country we were beat up, as was our flag yet, we are still here…”
It seems so appropriate to quote here those immortal words “…proof through the night that our flag was still there.”
So what is bothering you, the reader may well ask.
Well, let me have a person who almost gave her life for that flag tell you so much better than I ever could.
Retired U.S. Air Force Master Sergeant Janie Johansen (formerly Juanyta Ortiz) traveled across Texas recently and was both proud and a little disappointed seeing “the red, white and blue everywhere.”
She writes me:
From stately country homes to meager mobile homes, from apartment buildings to high-rise condominiums the Stars and Stripes fly. Above financial institutions, houses of worship, automobile dealerships, and restaurants, the symbol of the USA waves.
Painted on billboards, posted on mailboxes, automobiles, motorcycles, windows, clothing, and children’s toys the Star-Spangled Banner stands fast.
As a U.S Air Force retiree, as one who swore to support and defend my country against all enemies, foreign and domestic, as one who sacrificed for my country freely and without reservation, I feel a sense of pride at the overwhelming display of patriotism when I see these flags. But I also feel some sadness.
Why the sadness?
I see too many faded, tattered, torn flags.
Too many flags hoisted or flown incorrectly; flags flying at night without illumination; flags touching buildings and even the ground. Don’t get me started on people wearing the flag as a garment or other inappropriate uses.
I learned very early to respect and take care of the flag. I learned that from my dad while growing up in the South.
My dad who only had an eighth grade education, who faced segregation and discrimination even after joining the U.S Army and serving in Korea and two tours in Vietnam, but who still loved his country — and the flag.
When Dad retired from the Army, he worked long hours and did whatever was necessary to take care of mom and three kids.
Regardless of the long and hard days ahead, Dad would get up every morning at daybreak to “put the flag up” and — since we did not have the luxury of outdoor lighting — he would faithfully take the flag down every evening at dusk. Although we did not have much money, Dad would buy a new flag whenever the old flag began to fade or wear.
Dad also had a U.S flag magnet on the rear of his car just above his Purple Heart license plate.
That is how I learned to take care of the Stars and Stripes and that is why I care deeply about how our flag is displayed and flown.
I hope, this Memorial Day, to once again see the traditional outpouring of patriotism and honor for the men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice and I also hope that Americans will be more aware of how to care for and display the flag we all cherish and honor.
To many, this may be much ado about nothing. To some who today remember and honor those who have given their all for our flag, a little respect for Old Glory is not asking too much.
CODA:
In December 1990, U.S. Air Force Master Sergeant Juanyta D. Ortiz (now Janie Johansen) was flying over Kuwait in a C-130 in support of Operation Southern Watch when the aircraft accidentally impacted the ground and became airborne again but only after suffering severe structural damage that included the landing gear punching through the floor of the aircraft and injuring dozens of passengers, several fatally.
Janie “distinguished herself by heroism involving voluntary risk” when she, with complete disregard for her own safety and despite the large hole in the fuselage where she was working, immediately used her aero medical skills to help the injured passengers.
Janie, now an Austin resident and grandmother, chalks her performance that night in Kuwait to “just doing what she was trained for.”
However, the U.S. Air Force thought that Ortiz did more than just answer the call of duty and awarded her the prestigious Airman’s Medal — one of the highest military decorations for heroism involving risk of life.
Chapter 1 of Title 4 of the United States Code (The United States Flag Code) establishes advisory rules for display and care of the U.S. flag — our “flag etiquette.”
Lead photo: U.S. Navy airmen Devin Markland, foreground, and Justin Ohalloran, raise the national ensign during morning colors on the flight deck of the USS George Washington in Yokosuka, Japan, May 18, 2014. Photo DOD
