Veterans Wage Battle Over Flag

Vets wage battle over flag
By Marcus E. Howard
Marietta Daily Journal Staff Writer
The heart and soul of the Marietta July Fourth Parade each year are the many military veterans who take part, some of them in their old uniforms – not the hordes of politicians who use the event as an excuse to get “face time” in front of potential voters.
The veterans and veterans groups elicit by far the loudest ovations from the crowds that line the parade route, louder than the cheers for any politician or other participant. And that’s as it should be.
But to its great discredit, Marietta City Hall this year has decided to give the veterans the back of its hand.
In past years, the start of the parade has been heralded by members of Marietta’s Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2681, who walk along the parade route a few minutes ahead of the rest of the marchers while passing out thousands of miniature U.S. flags to children – young and old – along the way.
Other members of the group pass the flags out while walking next to the group’s float.
City Hall informed the VFW that it would not be allowed to give out the flags, citing an obscure rule prohibiting parade participants from passing out materials or throwing candy – a rule they’ve never enforced when it came to the flags.
Officials announced yesterday afternoon that the city will allow veterans and others to pass out 3-by-5 inch U.S. flags, but only before and after the parade, not during the 1.5-mile route as they walk next to their “Let Freedom Ring” float.

“I think it’s pretty sad when you can’t pass out a miniature flag during a Fourth of July parade,” said Spears, a Vietnam and Desert Storm veteran. “I don’t think handing out the American flag equates to handing out candy.”

It may take more than a dusty old rule to keep Dean and other battle-tested veterans among Marietta’s 456-member VFW Post 2681 from distributing Old Glory on Independence Day, Dean said.

“Yes, absolutely we’ll be out there passing out flags,” Dean said.

Marietta Police Chief Dan Flynn said he hopes none of his officers have to arrest anyone next week for passing out U.S. flags. He said he is scheduled to meet with representatives from VFW Post 2681 Thursday morning to discuss the matter.
UPDATE:
City, veterans call truce over flags
By Marcus E. Howard
Marietta Daily Journal Staff Writer
Dean and other veterans questioned the policy, arguing that they had distributed the 3-by-5-inch U.S. flags from their float to children and other people on the sidewalks for the past several years, without incident.
After his morning meeting with Flynn and a second meeting in the afternoon regarding the language of the agreement, Dean said he was satisfied with the compromise and said Flynn was “very cordial.”
Under the agreement, veterans will be allowed to walk-up to spectators and hand them flags 10 to 15 minutes before the parade begins.

“Some of the members say they’re not doing it and are just going to pass out the flags anyway,” said Dean, a Korean War Army veteran. “But I have no control over members once they leave the post.”

The VFW will still have its own float, positioned No. 28 in the parade lineup – well behind a string of politicians, city councilmen and the mayor. (ed. In other words, safely beyond camera range of the Veterans position in the parade)
Still, some veterans like James Ellis said they plan to defy city rules and distribute flags to spectators as they walk next to their “Let Freedom Ring” float, during the parade.

“It stinks,” said Ellis, a World War II and Korean War veteran, of the agreement. “I say we still need to walk along the parade route with our float and hand flags out.”

He said regardless of what city officials say, veterans have been distributing flags to parade spectators along the route for decades and he offered photos of them doing so as proof.

A former U.S. Navy sailor who witnessed firsthand the Berlin Wall and Cuban-missile crises, Ellis said the entire flag controversy has “hit a sore spot” for him.

Wilma Clark, president of the VFW post’s Ladies Auxiliary, said Thursday evening that she didn’t know the details of the agreement yet but she felt the city’s ordinance is “wrong” since there has been no previously reported injury as a result of veterans handing flags out.

Other Cobb residents have voiced equal dismay over the city’s position.

Mark Johnson, a Marietta attorney who represents Cobb real estate magnate and Post Properties founder John Williams, said he first met his wife at the Fourth of July parade and called it a “highlight” of his year.

Wild Thing’s comment………..
If I were one of those Veterans I would ignore this stupid rule too. I would do the Parade just as it has been done in the past. We would have nothing if it weren’t for Veterans and our troops today. How people forget this, ON PURPOSE is an insult to every man and woman that has served this country.