I was Navy. The American flag was never just a piece of cloth to me. It is one of our most cherished national symbols. Let’s don’t confuse this symbol with a “symbol” representing a football team or a chicken franchise.
The red and white stars represent the thirteen original colonies. Those …. Colonies … were built by the blood, the sweat and the strife of real men and women, facing unknown dangers, starvation, and separations from friends and family, left behind, in other countries.
The blue canton represents “unity.” It stands for the unity of people coming together to create this great Republic, and swearing allegiance as one nation under God, with liberty and justice for all Americans. And, before any one jumps on the “for all Americans” thing, I am referring to when this flag was created and updated to symbolize all 50 states. I am not talking about the “Pledge of Allegiance, “when, and why the word America …was added. Let’s stay focused.
The stars represent each state in the Republic of America. The stars don’t just represent a specific state. They again … represent all the brave men and women who fought (and those who died) for state sovereignty and to be recognized as a part of this great nation.
I watch people, who have been given more opportunity to do something with their lives than in any other country, chant hate slogans and burn the flag … and, it sickens me.
I watch people who claim to be historians, Constitutionalists, and political authoritarians … smile condescendingly … while reminding viewers and listeners that this is one of those “unalienable rights” of all Americans.
But, there is one word that keeps being kept out of the conversation … and, that is … responsibility. With rights, come responsibilities. It is the responsibility of respecting the rights … and feelings … of others, as well as our own.
It is the responsibility of honoring those who have come before us and who have fought and died to preserve the very rights that, so many abuse, today.
Our American Flag has been carried from battleground to battleground in the fight for our liberty and our freedoms, as a country, and, in protecting others. While it was sometimes torn and shredded, somewhat … it prevailed.
Our American Flag is a symbol of our American history and it is a declaration of all that we have had to fight for, endure, and overcome.
That symbol should not be trivialized to mean nothing more than a “piece of cloth” or a cell-phone symbol.
The American Flag is a symbol which represents the very heart and soul of everything that is America, the good and the ugly. It represents and honors the good men and women who have fought bravely to preserve our rights and freedoms. It represents the pain, the heartache, the tears, the sacrifices, and the deaths of real people who helped to make, and preserve our Republic of America.
The events that have framed America … the people that lived and died for this country … are now a part of history. They are no longer with us. But … our American Flag is still here. She is still waving in honor of those people and as a reminder of all that is America.
No, the American Flag is NOT just a piece of cloth, as some say. It symbolizes the very soul of America, it is the history of America … and it is a constant reminder of the glory and the greatness that America can be for future generations. Our flag should be revered and honored, not ripped apart and burned. One has that right, to be sure … but with that right, comes responsibility, and the duty of respect … for the very object … that symbolizes that right.
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Debbie Barth: 12/01/2016 at 2:31:01 pm EDT
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