Another battle to fly the flag
We read:
"The father of an Illinois soldier who gave his life in Iraq is battling a cemetery for the right to keep the 10-foot flag poles that bookend his son's memorial, MyFoxChicago.com reported.
Army Cpl. Albert Bitton was killed by a roadside bomb in 2008. For the past two and a half years the poles have displayed an American flag and an MIA/POW flag, one on each side of the headstone. It's a monument that his father, Elie Bitton, visits three times a day.
But last week, Ron Graeff, the cemetary’s new manager, ordered Bitton to take down the flags and flowers around the grave site because they violate the cemetery's rules.
Source
10 comments:
While i clearly understand this father wanting to honor his hero son, (as he, and we, should) the fact is, most cemeteries have rules as to what can be placed at a grave. My parents are buried in the largest civilian cemetery in the world, but flowers are not permitted to be placed at a grave site. Sure they'll usually overlook a small bunch of flowers, but anything more than that will be removed. The "reason" usually given is that it obstructs the views of other visitors. Also to is the fact that in todays America, there are those crawling among us who are offended by the sight of our country's flag. Unfortunately, they're not the ones who are buried.
This wouldn't be a problem except the previous manager either didn't enforce the rules, or the new manager changed the rules. After two years, why should he be asked to change things now? Were there complaints? Or is it just the new manager pushing his own power? Did he know about the rules when the flagposts were put in? Why were they allowed in the first place?
Most cemeteries have rules, but the rules need to be consistently enforced, prior to families spending large amounts of money to put something in that they are then forced to spend money to remove.
As in all such idiotic cases, it will take a lawyer and a threat to the cemetery's bank account to make them see the light. If this were still America, instead of Amerika, these insults to our flag and country would not happen.
I agree that a display of such size has no place in a public cemetary, unless it's an oversized plot for a private mausoleum (do those still exist?).
Banning flowers is completely absurd of course, as absurd as UK cemetaries banning headstones because someone might trip over one and hurt themselves.
This story was at least three days old when you "discovered" it. The problem was resolved the day after it hit the airways. You really should have done better research. The flags were allowed to stay.
UK headstones banned? UK cemeteries are full of them!- and flowers!
while ago a cemetary in the UK removed all monuments (mostly crosses of course in that one) >60m tall because they were "a health hazard".
Doesn't ">60m" tall mean more than 60 metres tall (ca.180 feet)? No wonder it's a potential health hazard as such monuments age!
Wow. I love this country. I have fought for this country. I am the oldest of the first generation born in this country.
And it will always amaze me how people embrace symbols of this country and apply standards by which we all should live to such extremes. It baffles me greatly that perhaps people don't want to see things like flag poles all over the place.
Hey, if it's on your property, then so be it. It's your land, do with it as you wish. But when you come over to someone's land, YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO TELL THEM HOW THEY ARE ALLOWED TO USE IT.
Sounds like some people here feel that private property is only private up to a certain point, then it becomes...what..."the people's property". Also, all of those people who claim that they should love the flag like their wife/husband/lover/sibling should ask themselves if maybe they aren't tripping all over themselves to worship their idol. I guess it's only false idols, you need to worry about, huh.
For all the people who love the flag so much, just shove a pole up your arse.
A flag is just an Ego on a pole - No more than a dog's territorial piss on a fire-hydrant.
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