Armed Polite Society
Main Forums => The Roundtable => Topic started by: vaskidmark on May 28, 2012, 06:04:59 AM
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http://volokh.com/2012/05/27/etiquette-of-memorial-day-observance/
Much more socially appropriate than my usual Memorial Day rant. I'm grateful I ran across it early - I'm about to head out the door to do the morning check on the flag-raisers. Maybe I can rememner some of this as I'm wished a sincere "Happy" Memorial Day.
stay safe.
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Yes, we've gotten that bad.
There are also some out there who need a refresher in flag etiquette. It burns me up to see flags flying unlit at night, or flying in tatters.
I'm not dismissing Memorial Day. It's just a private thing for me, not something you share publicly or celebrate.
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Well, according to my recollection, flags can be flown at night if they're illuminated, and in foul weather if they're weather-resistant. I agree on the tattered ("unfit for service") flags being flown, though.
A flag which is unfit for service is supposed to be disposed of in a proper manner. I keep a tiny flag stuck in the woodwork down by the mailboxes, and after about a year, when they start fading, I retire them and every couple of years I take my collection of retired flags down to the VFW post for proper disposal. (Contributions are accepted.)
According to some Congressional action (memory fades), the flag is defined by law (not by a mere Congressional Resolution) as a living person, and entitled to all the courtesies due a citizen. (Like military officers are by definition, "gentlemen.")
I used to work down by the main post office in Denver and twice I noticed that on Pearl Harbor Day, the flag was not set at half-mast. I was going to write to that local postmaster about it, but a little research showed that he had a Japanese name, so I figured the hell with it and only mentioned it to one of the counter folks there next time I was in the facility.
The next year, the flag was properly displayed, so apparently the word got up to him. But I take no credit; there were probably other red-blooded flag-waving redneck gun-totin' right-winger old farts who complained as well.
Terry, 230RN
ETA: Flag Disposal Project... I didn't know the BSA did this as well:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fizgNjc8s6Y
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I used to work down by the main post office in Denver and twice I noticed that on Pearl Harbor Day, the flag was not set at half-maststaff.
Terry, 230RN
FTFY, a mast is on a ship, holding up the sails. Flags are on staffs...
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Heh, 9/11/02 I was no watch, when I got off watch I ambled over to my neighbor, a nuke powered aircraft carrier, and inquired to my equivalent watch, a commissioned officer in their hi-falutin case, as to why their flag was not half-staffed. Oopsie.
Rather burned up about my mother calling veteran me to remember me on Memorial day. Sure we're on tense speaking terms of late, but no idea she wanted me dead!
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scout26 pointed out:
FTFY, a mast is on a ship, holding up the sails. Flags are on staffs...
Whoops! Thanks.
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Yup! And that flag at half staff should have arrived there after having visited the top of the pole when raised, should revisit the top before being lowered. Being the son of a career Navy officer, I don't recall my earliest training in flag protocol, but the formal knowledge began in a Navy base kindergarten. Try to pass that knowledge to a current kindergartener and you get blasted by parents, teachers, kids, etc.
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(https://armedpolitesociety.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi176.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fw186%2Fvaskidmark%2Fflagrespect.gif&hash=c04c0ffeaa30f50435b6817445af68ac506e127e)
stay safe.