For those of you who were lamenting the destruction of
the flag and wishing it could be saved for a museum,
this is an excerpt from a note my beau sent this
morning.

Seems to me, if any flag should be saved, it's this
one when it returns.  Not that it diminishes the value
of the one to be destroyed, and not that there isn't
more than one museum that could use and cherish such
an artifact.

But now that I've chosen to sound in on this (I have
restrained myself from posting due to a less than
charitable comment I received earlier this week) my
take on the American Legion's destruction v. a museum
is this:

As you know, I love museums.  They have been an
integral part of my life from my tiniest years because
it was someplace my then very poor dad (now a
self-made whatever) could take his noncustodial
daughter on biweekly visitations.  They were free or
nominal, and he had a place to entertain me, while I
had a place to learn and be loved.  So part of me says
yes, I truly would love to see the flag in an
institution.

BUT, with that said, you can ask my stepmother.  We
got into a HUGE argument when I was about eight
because our family flag fell to the ground, and she
would not burn it!  I was livid.  Everything I had
been taught said that a flag is to be treated with
love, honor, and respect (better than a husband, LOL)
and that, if it EVER touched the ground, it had to be
burnt.

I'm sure those values are shared by the American
Legion.  I am convinced they are burning that flag out
of love for it, and I'm afraid that (and it's probably
a moot point at this time) if you take it away from
them in a time such as this, it could do as much
damage as the good it could cause by preserving it.

Granted, it may mean a lot to future generations.  But
my thoughts include the fact that a lot of the
American Legion folks are WW II vets who put their
lives on the line for their country and that symbol,
and they feel duty bound to preserve the integrity of
America by symbolically destroying this flag.

It's too bad.  I would like to see it, touch it, hold
it, cry on it, but I think if anybody cares how I'd
vote, it would be with destruction for the emotional
balm it will create.

Let's be sure to monitor this one and hope it has a
safe and auspicious home--my favorite, of course,
would be at the Smithsonian (perhaps on a display that
tours).

My beau wrote"

I was watching FOX news channel early this morning and
they had a little story that started the tears
streaming again. Have you ever wondered whatever
became of the American flag raised by the 3 firemen
over the ruins of the WTC? It was given to President
Bush by Mayor Giuliani and subsequently sent to the
Captain of the USS Theodore Roosevelt where it is
being flown from its mast at the front of the action
by special request of the Pres. It will remain there
until the Teddy returns.


=====
Indigo Nights
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