“Protocol for flying the American flag on Memorial Day includes raising it quickly to the top of the pole at sunrise, immediately lowering it to half-staff until noon, and displaying it at full staff from noon until sunset.”
Flying the flag but doing it improperly is, to my mind, worse than not flying it at all. It is about symbolism, after all, and that implies ritual.
As a former, now recognized (certificate suitable for framing, no medal, no ribbon) Cold Warrior, I never asked or expected to be thanked or recognized. Spitting and cursing had passed before I entered service.
But I left the Navy with a compulsive need to clean and hostility to improper display of the flag; both of which I have had to get over. The flag as attire I coped with as an expression of free speech, but teeth still grate over misuse of the flag in misguided patriotic display.
Worn, shabby antenna versions are a particular peeve.
First, for most of us, raising the flag quickly to the top of the pole and then down to half staff is not a possibility. My flag options are 1) the 3-by-5 hang-at-a-tilt flag we bought from our son’s Cub Scout troop or 2) the enormous ceremonial flag that draped my father-in-law’s casket, which we hang across the front of our garage on Veteran’s Day. So, in my own defense, let me plead “it’s the thought that counts,” and say that my symbolically incorrect displays, like those of most people, are a side effect of an admirable urge.
Second, let me bitch a little about what Memorial Day has become. Senator Daniel Inouye introduces legislation every year to return Memorial day to May 30, whether that date falls midweek or not. The legislation goes nowhere. His logic, which I share, is that the recognition of war dead should be an interruption, and that turning it into just another three-day weekend diminishes its impact. When we should be gathering as communities to recognize the sacrifice that makes this country possible, we are instead waterskiing and drinking beer. This is a significant civic loss.
Finally, I note a shift in recent years to using Memorial Day as a generic, all-purpose recognition of the military. The motivation for this, I think, is that patriotism has become a cudgel to beat political adversaries with, rather than a feeling of common purpose. Turning Memorial Day from a holiday during which we reflect on sacrifices past to an occasion that demands support of military adventures current is divisive in a way that isn’t productive. It’s like the “I Support Our Troops and President Bush” yard signs that became a patriotic necessity at the start of the Iraq War. This is a very confused understanding of what Memorial Day is for and about, a symptom of the perpetual militarism that the Founders certainly did not support or envision, and a partisan exercise that cheapens a profound American moment.
Sorry I went on so long, but this really gets under my skin.
Tom, I mentioned the protocol simply to support the idea that Memorial Day is different, even in the showing of the flag.
I too am unable to raise then lower the flag I display. It’s up or it isn’t.