Flying the flag honors sacrifices

Saturday marked the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. It seems that the nation celebrated the 4th of July this year with a proliferation of the dedication to flying the American Flag. People across the nation have been raising the flag on homes in every community. You can include me in those flying the flag on Saturday.

There is one difference between me and a lot of those people. I fly the American Flag every day. The one exception is if the winter wind is blowing and the flag might get damaged.

Let me give you the background on why I do this. Over the years, I have had the opportunity to visit several memorial sites. I have walked the hallowed grounds of Pearl Harbor cemetery, the War Memorials in Washington, D.C., Arlington National Cemetery and last year the beaches of Normandy, France.

An uncle I never met, died on Omaha beach on June 6, 1944. American flags were flying, some places by the thousands, at each location. In some cases, I looked down the row after row of graves with flags on them and wondered, how to we show our appreciation to men and women who gave their lives for an ideal greater than themselves.

We honor them by flying the flag they died for.

Gerald J. Kopkash

Cary