By Gerald N. Jacobowitz, Cornwall-on-Hudson
As we ride the roads we are greeted with a sea of stars and stripes on lawns, poles and fences. Why are those flags displayed would be an interesting study. Not all the motivations are consistent with history and many are based on the exact opposite for what the flag really means to our country.
For me, the flag reminds me of my cousin Harold, who at 18 was killed in Operation Tiger on LST507 at the hands of a German PT boat torpedo. He symbolizes the millions who gave their lives for their democratic country that received his ancestors as immigrants.
The flying the flag and not 100% commitment to the perpetuation of our continuous march for freedoms, liberty, opportunity is a perversion of all the flag stands for. Under Washington, the 13 colonies banded in a federation of states as a democracy called the United States of America. President Lincoln led the nation in saving that federation of states perpetuating the democratic government. We have fought major wars to preserve democracy here and abroad. Through all of this, the flag was, and is, the symbol of our democratic free society.
The wrapping of the flag over and around political, social, religious or other causes is a perversion of the true symbolic meaning of our flag. It can stand for no other principal than a free democracy with liberty and justice for ALL.
When you see the flag, that is the message of America regardless of the motives of others claiming the flag is less. Do not be fooled.