Let Me Say This About That - Part 2

Welcome back to part 2 of Let Me Say This About That.

Cinch that seat belt a little tighter as we continue.


Yesterday I ended with the story about the professor that was fired for his discussions about the Virginia Tech Massacre.

In that story I told you he talked about the number of soldiers killed in Iraq.


Today let me show you a different prospective from a soldier. For that story I have included rules for flying the American Flag at half staff.

Flying the American Flag at Half Staff
From The 'Celebrating America’s Freedoms’ Series

When should the flag be flown at half-staff?

A relatively easy way to remember when to fly the United States flag at half-staff is to consider when the whole nation is in mourning. These periods of mourning are proclaimed either by the president of the United States, for national remembrance, or the governor of a state or territory, for local remembrance, in the event of a death of a member or former member of the federal, state or territorial government or judiciary. The heads of departments and agencies of the federal government may also order that the flag be flown at half-staff on buildings, grounds and naval vessels under their jurisdiction.

On Memorial day the flag should be flown at half-staff from sunrise until noon only, then raised briskly to the top of the staff until sunset, in honor of the nation's battle heroes.

In the early days of our country, no regulations existed for flying the flag at half-staff and, as a result, there were many conflicting policies. But on March 1, 1954, President Dwight Eisenhower issued a proclamation on the proper times.

The flag should fly at half-staff for 30 days at all federal buildings, grounds, and naval vessels throughout the United States and its territories and possessions after the death of the president or a former president. It is to fly 10 days at half-staff after the death of the vice president, the chief justice or a retired chief justice of the United States Supreme Court, or the speaker of the House of Representatives. For an associate justice of the Supreme Court, a member of the Cabinet, a former vice president, the president pro tempore of the Senate, the majority leader of the Senate, the minority leader of the Senate, the majority leader of the House of Representatives, or the minority leader of the House of Representatives the flag is to be displayed at half-staff from the day of death until interment.

The flag is to be flown at half-staff at all federal buildings, grounds and naval vessels in the Washington, D.C., area on the day and day after the death of a United States senator, representative, territorial delegate, or the resident commissioner from the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It shall also be flown at half-staff on all federal facilities in the state, congressional district, territory, or commonwealth of these officials.

Upon the death of the governor of a state, territory or possession, the flag shall be flown at half-staff on all federal facilities in that governor's state, territory or possession from the day of death until interment.

The president may order the flag to be flown at half-staff to mark the death of other officials, former officials, or foreign dignitaries. In addition to these occasions, the president may order half-staff display of the flag after other tragic events.

The flag should be briskly run up to the top of the staff before being lowered slowly to the half-staff position.

OK, now you have an understanding of the proper etiquette for flying the American Flag at half staff.

As a continuation of my two part post about expression and freedom of speech, I submit to you the following story:

KABUL, Afghanistan - An Army sergeant complained in a rare opinion article that the U.S. flag flew at half-staff last week at the largest U.S. base in Afghanistan for those killed at Virginia Tech but the same honor is not given to fallen U.S. troops here and in Iraq.

In the article issued Monday by the public affairs office at Bagram military base north of Kabul, Sgt. Jim Wilt lamented that his comrades' deaths have become a mere blip on the TV screen, lacking the "shock factor" to be honored by the Stars and Stripes as the deaths at Virginia Tech were.

"I find it ironic that the flags were flown at half-staff for the young men and women who were killed at VT, yet it is never lowered for the death of a U.S. service member," Wilt wrote.

He noted that Bagram obeyed President Bush's order last week that all U.S. flags at federal locations be flown at half-staff through April 22 to honor 32 people killed at Virginia Tech by a 23-year-old student gunman who then killed himself.

"I think it is sad that we do not raise the bases' flag to half-staff when a member of our own task force dies," Wilt said.

According to the Defense Department, 315 U.S. service members have died in and around Afghanistan since the U.S.-led offensive that toppled the Taliban regime in late 2001, 198 of them in combat.

NATO's International Security Assistance Force said that the flags of all its troop-contributing nations are flown at half-staff for about 72 hours after the service member's death "as a mark of respect when there is an ISAF fatality."

Sgt. 1st Class Dean Welch, who works with Wilt at the U.S.-led coalition public affairs office, said the essay is a "soldier's commentary, not the view of the coalition and not the view of the U.S. forces."

Welch added that such outspoken opinion pieces are rare.

Wilt suggested that flags should fly at half-staff on the base where the fallen service member was working and in the states where they hail from. He said some states do this, but not all of them.

He wrote that the death of a U.S. service member is just as violent as those at the university last week, but it lacks the "shock factor of the Virginia massacre."

"It is a daily occurrence these days to see X number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq or Afghanistan scrolling across the ticker at the bottom of the TV screen. People have come to expect casualty counts in the nightly news; they don't expect to see 32 students killed," he wrote.

"If the flags on our (operating bases) were lowered for just one day after the death of a service member, it would show the people who knew the person that society cared, the American people care."

Of course this story has not been picked up by the main stream media or the military probably would start Court Martial proceedings on this soldier.

Note how fast Sgt. 1st Class Dean Welch jumped in to say "the essay is a soldier's commentary, not the view of the coalition and not the view of the U.S. forces."

I wonder how Sgt. 1st Class Dean Welch would know the view of the entire coalition and the U.S. forces?

If someone somewhere out there disagrees with what Sgt. Jim Wilt said, and they have the political power, his military career is doomed.

There are a lot more problems facing our society that we should be concerned with. It's time to quit worrying about who said what and who did it offend!!!

To me, the three most haunting statements are:

"I find it ironic that the flags were flown at half-staff for the young men and women who were killed at VT, yet it is never lowered for the death of a U.S. service member."

"People have come to expect casualty counts in the nightly news."

"It would show the people who knew the person that society cared, the American people care."

Those three statements serve as a stark wake up call for us all.

For the record Sgt. Jim Wilt, I care!!!!!!


At this point I was going to end today's post but since we were on the topic of flying the Flag at half staff and in line with the previous story, I thought I would add the following.

In December of 2004 a U.S. Flag above Lambeau Field, home of the Green Bay Packers, flies at half-staff on Sunday, hours after the death of Reggie White.


Who was Reggie White some of you may ask?

White, played for the Green Bay Packers from 1993-98. The former Tennessee star was a 13-time Pro Bowler, a two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year and a member of the league's 75th anniversary team.

When asked about flying the Flag at Half Staff the team president Bob Harlan said, "We have done this through the years and we are going to continue to do it."

"Is that what you are getting at, that we are not obeying the flag codes?"

"Well, we are going to do it."

Harlan acknowledged the flags are not lowered when a local soldier is reported killed in Iraq or Afghanistan.

The American Flag, so why should it be shown any respect, this is football.

I don't know about you but it gives me such a great feeling to see that we here in America have our priorities in order.

Football players are held in much higher esteem than our military personnel past and present!!

The next time you see someone who served or is serving in the military be sure to ignore them.

On the other hand, the next time you see a football player make sure you thank them and shake their hand.

I got what Sgt. Jim Wilt was saying!!!!

Agree or disagree, I hope the last two posts have at the very least given you food for thought.

If either of the past two posts have struck any kind of nerve, I encourage you to share them with others.

That's it for this week and if you didn't like what I say, have me fired!!!!!!!!!