Folded Flags
"Star-spangled happiness and banner waves of pride." ~Cherishe Archer
Every morning at my child's school the students, teachers and parents stand around the flag while it is unfolded and raised. We say the Pledge of Allegiance and we sing a patriotic song and then we pray the school prayer. It is a religious based school and this aspect of it all is very important to our family. There is nothing like the sight of tomorrows adults, grades 1 - 4 unfolding our flag and raising it and then standing with reverence for our country. At the end of the day, the same children take the flag down and fold it, as it should be folded, in a triangle with the stripes tucked in, to await the next day.
We took a break from Korea to go to Hawaii and we visited Pearl Harbor. On the USS Arizona memorial there is a flag pole that is very busy. A team of people change the flag out every thirty minutes or so. These flags, flown over the USS Arizona are then sent to people all over who have requested and paid for a flag that has flown specifically over Pearl Harbor. The memorial at Pearl Harbor is a very somber place, it took my breath away to read the names of those who had perished on that fateful day. The memorial is a stark white building floating in the middle of the harbor with the vibrant colors of our nation's flag flying over it. It is a picture in my mind's eye, my country's flag flying strong over such a somber place, and then being folded by a team for destinations unknown. These flags are used for gifts and to commemorate special events, they are flown in yards all over our country and some are used to drape caskets at the burial of a Service Member or Veteran.
Vic brought home such a flag for Victoria that was flown in Baghdad on her birthday. This was her gift from him at the end of his second tour. It is proof that she was in his thoughts on her birthday and that no matter how many miles were between them on that special day, we were and always will be a family that stands under the American flag. We talked about the meanings of the symbols, we taught the children how to fold the flag and then we folded it, as a family, with reverence.
This week, my friend , Linda brought me another folded flag that is in a wooden display case. She carried it into my house, hugging it to her chest and asked if I thought I would want to keep it. My friend loves garage sales, that is how I met her, when a neighbor brought her over to mine. She was shopping at a garage sale when she came across the flag in the case and asked the owner the story behind the flag. The folded flag was once draped over the coffin of a Vietnam Veteran. The Veteran was a family member and through time the family had begun fighting over something. The family had shattered so much that the flag was no longer wanted and had found it's way to the garage sale. Linda was horrified and bought it right away because she felt that something so special had no place where it was right then. She has kept it at her house trying to find just the right place to put it. When she stopped in this week hugging that flag, she was very excited because she hoped that we had space for it. Linda knew in her heart that there would be no better place for a Vietnam Veteran's burial flag than in this military house.
In my house there is a very tall ledge that is full of Americana stuff I have collected over the years. The walls in the living room and kitchen are yellow like the yellow bows we tied and are still tying today in support of the troops that are serving in harms way. This ledge gets a beautiful beam of sunlight around noon because of a skylight in the ceiling. Right where that sunbeam hits, nestled in my Americana things, sits the case with the folded flag. Before I put it there, I hugged it to my chest and said a prayer for all who have held a folded flag, Service members, widows, families, those at the USS Arizona, Baghdad and around the globe who serve, and those 1-4th graders. High upon the ledge is the closest to Heaven that I could put it. The highest place where we could still see it and remember. There is no better place for it.
Every morning at my child's school the students, teachers and parents stand around the flag while it is unfolded and raised. We say the Pledge of Allegiance and we sing a patriotic song and then we pray the school prayer. It is a religious based school and this aspect of it all is very important to our family. There is nothing like the sight of tomorrows adults, grades 1 - 4 unfolding our flag and raising it and then standing with reverence for our country. At the end of the day, the same children take the flag down and fold it, as it should be folded, in a triangle with the stripes tucked in, to await the next day.
We took a break from Korea to go to Hawaii and we visited Pearl Harbor. On the USS Arizona memorial there is a flag pole that is very busy. A team of people change the flag out every thirty minutes or so. These flags, flown over the USS Arizona are then sent to people all over who have requested and paid for a flag that has flown specifically over Pearl Harbor. The memorial at Pearl Harbor is a very somber place, it took my breath away to read the names of those who had perished on that fateful day. The memorial is a stark white building floating in the middle of the harbor with the vibrant colors of our nation's flag flying over it. It is a picture in my mind's eye, my country's flag flying strong over such a somber place, and then being folded by a team for destinations unknown. These flags are used for gifts and to commemorate special events, they are flown in yards all over our country and some are used to drape caskets at the burial of a Service Member or Veteran.
Vic brought home such a flag for Victoria that was flown in Baghdad on her birthday. This was her gift from him at the end of his second tour. It is proof that she was in his thoughts on her birthday and that no matter how many miles were between them on that special day, we were and always will be a family that stands under the American flag. We talked about the meanings of the symbols, we taught the children how to fold the flag and then we folded it, as a family, with reverence.
This week, my friend , Linda brought me another folded flag that is in a wooden display case. She carried it into my house, hugging it to her chest and asked if I thought I would want to keep it. My friend loves garage sales, that is how I met her, when a neighbor brought her over to mine. She was shopping at a garage sale when she came across the flag in the case and asked the owner the story behind the flag. The folded flag was once draped over the coffin of a Vietnam Veteran. The Veteran was a family member and through time the family had begun fighting over something. The family had shattered so much that the flag was no longer wanted and had found it's way to the garage sale. Linda was horrified and bought it right away because she felt that something so special had no place where it was right then. She has kept it at her house trying to find just the right place to put it. When she stopped in this week hugging that flag, she was very excited because she hoped that we had space for it. Linda knew in her heart that there would be no better place for a Vietnam Veteran's burial flag than in this military house.
In my house there is a very tall ledge that is full of Americana stuff I have collected over the years. The walls in the living room and kitchen are yellow like the yellow bows we tied and are still tying today in support of the troops that are serving in harms way. This ledge gets a beautiful beam of sunlight around noon because of a skylight in the ceiling. Right where that sunbeam hits, nestled in my Americana things, sits the case with the folded flag. Before I put it there, I hugged it to my chest and said a prayer for all who have held a folded flag, Service members, widows, families, those at the USS Arizona, Baghdad and around the globe who serve, and those 1-4th graders. High upon the ledge is the closest to Heaven that I could put it. The highest place where we could still see it and remember. There is no better place for it.
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