Will you fly a flag on your blog for our men and women at arms?
John Fuller got me thinking about it early this morning.
Mark Schultz touched my emotions about it.
A historical display of the front page of the June 6, 1944 Tennessean prompted me to action.
Today is the 64th anniversary of the largest coordinated invasion in the history of warfare. D-Day. Normandy. Omaha Beach. These words – and the stories behind them – became a part of our national fabric. Are they fading?
A tradition began during World War I and became more powerful during World War II. A families with a soldier (or soldiers) deployed displayed a Service Flag in their window. The blue star in the center of the flag proclaimed that the family was praying for the safety, wisdom, and return of their soldier. Some flags bore many stars–one for every son deployed. Many weeping mothers replaced the blue stars with gold stars when news arrived that their sons had given their last full measure of devotion.
I’ve wondered why we don’t see more of these flags with so many of our nation’s sons and daughters in harm’s way.
I have two challenges for you:
1. Hang a Flag
Hang a Service flag (if you’re family) or an American Flag in your blog (or your window, or your front yard, or your neighborhood, or your business). Tell others in a few words about the person it honors. Please tell me about it in my comments section. (If you fly a real flag, be sure to follow the rules.)
Today, I place an American flag on my blog in honor of Jack. Jack is serving as a First Lieutenant in the US Army. He is stationed at Camp Patriot on the Kuwaiti Gulf. He has a talented and gracious wife at home with their two small boys. He’s been deployed for over a year.
I found my public domain image here. I also found an official website dedicated to Service Flags.
If you’ve forgotten the symbolism and emotion of our American flag, read this script. I wrote this for a flag retirement ceremony for our Scout troop.
2. Write a soldier
I was convicted today that I haven’t written Jack enough. He has occasional access to email, and I haven’t even dropped him a brief note from time to time. Who in your life is deployed? Have you written them lately? The video below from Mark Schultz reminds us of the power of our letters.
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