Monday, May 28, 2007
MY FLAG
Looking out my front window on this dismal Memorial Day, I saw a beautiful sight. It was my flag, blowing freely in the morning breeze. Placed there by the gentle hands of a Civitan volunteer, and provided by a gift from a loving son, my flag was indeed a beautiful sight to behold.
My flag is not the symbol for any one political party. It signifies the unity of all parties in loyalty to one nation. My flag is not to be abused in political imagery, and certainly not to be a part of political chicanery. Honorably carried by honorable men into honorable and just wars, it is not to be employed emotionally to elicit misplaced support of military conflicts which are less than necessary.
Through childhood, a world war, and until age 34, the Militant Moderate pledged allegiance to the flag he served without the phrase "under God" in that oath. That was added by Congress to the pledge about 1960. My allegiance remains the same, with or without the added phraseology. But I resent anyone making those words sacred to the flag, or a matter of religious contentiousness.
This has been a sad Memorial Day. The recounting of the personal and family tragedies caused by the war in Iraq, as a way of memorializing these, has taken its toll on all of us who are sensitive to human suffering. What an utter, terrible tragedy this war has been!
Having suffered through the death of my only brother in World War II, and having observed the endless grieving of my mother through the years until her death, I understand fully the effects of war on families. Having lost a son tragically at age 25 in 1982, I have learned anew that grieving never, ever ends.
Yes, indeed, my flag flies beautifully on my front lawn. I love it. I have served under it in war. Many have died in allegiance to it. It is for us, the living, to dedicate ourselves to see that our young people die, and families suffer, only in necessary and honorable conflicts.
Dr. Edwin E. Vineyard, AKA The Militant Moderate
My flag is not the symbol for any one political party. It signifies the unity of all parties in loyalty to one nation. My flag is not to be abused in political imagery, and certainly not to be a part of political chicanery. Honorably carried by honorable men into honorable and just wars, it is not to be employed emotionally to elicit misplaced support of military conflicts which are less than necessary.
Through childhood, a world war, and until age 34, the Militant Moderate pledged allegiance to the flag he served without the phrase "under God" in that oath. That was added by Congress to the pledge about 1960. My allegiance remains the same, with or without the added phraseology. But I resent anyone making those words sacred to the flag, or a matter of religious contentiousness.
This has been a sad Memorial Day. The recounting of the personal and family tragedies caused by the war in Iraq, as a way of memorializing these, has taken its toll on all of us who are sensitive to human suffering. What an utter, terrible tragedy this war has been!
Having suffered through the death of my only brother in World War II, and having observed the endless grieving of my mother through the years until her death, I understand fully the effects of war on families. Having lost a son tragically at age 25 in 1982, I have learned anew that grieving never, ever ends.
Yes, indeed, my flag flies beautifully on my front lawn. I love it. I have served under it in war. Many have died in allegiance to it. It is for us, the living, to dedicate ourselves to see that our young people die, and families suffer, only in necessary and honorable conflicts.
Dr. Edwin E. Vineyard, AKA The Militant Moderate
