My Colors

[BSea]

Originally Posted by Crimediver

My dad's father was a civilian flight instructor for Curtiss Airplanes begining during WW1. In the late 30's he moved to the Philippines and taught Filipino military and constabulary pilots. In fact, he taught the first Filipino to fly a plane.

While in Manila there was a fair that had an American flag flying on a flagpole. A large fire broke out at the fair that threatened to burn up the flag. My grandfather climbed up the flagpole to recue the flag. The Mayor of Manila later awarded the flag to my grandfather in a ceremony. My grandfather flew the flag at his home in Manila.

His wife, sons and daughter lived with him in Manila. Eventually they were captured by the Japanese Army when they attacked the islands after Pearl Harbor. They spent 4 years under very brutal conditions as prisoners of war. The hardships they suffered were indescribable.

When first captured the family was told to pack enough food and clothing for three days and to report to the Japanese. My family hid an American flag in their meager belongings. The "three day stay" lasted 4 years.
That flag was kept hidden and was a symbol of freedom for the American prisoners.

The Japanese learned a flag was in the camp and looked for it but never found it. If they had been caught with it I am sure they would have been put to death. This flag was finally flown over the camp called Los Banos when it was liberated by American paratroopers and Filipino guerillas in 1945.

At the risk of their lives and those of their children they had to weigh the risk of keeping the flag. Almost starving to death, sick and abused ,the flag could not do anything to feed or cloth them. They kept it despite the risk of being killed for having it because it was a symbol of freedom. More than most people they understood what that flag stood for.

This is a lesson I learned early when I was shown this flag, which is still owned by my family. This flag has graced the casket of my Uncle Bill, who was a POW of the Japanese. This flag is now kept by my Aunt Patty in Oklahoma, who is the last person left alive in my family from those tough days. It is a good thing Aunt Patty did not see that flag improperly displayed at the Post Office. She would definitely put the Postmaster in a state of distress.

Thanks for taking action at the Post Office.!

This has to be the best story I've read concerning our flag. Has their story ever been published? If it was, then I'll like to get a copy if that's possible.

[Crimediver]

BSea,
As far as I know it was not published. I do know my Aunt Patty has spoken to groups about this flag. I find the story very inspiring and I never fail to get a lump in my throat whenever I think about it.

Those Americans who have had to live under tyranny understand the meaning of the flag. As a teenager in the 70's I lived in Virginia Beach. My father was a Navy Commander. We lived in a community full of servicemen, many who were serving in Viet nam. A significant number of pilots had been shot down and were POW's of the North Vietnamese. Many of the families were concentrated in the Virginia Beach area. Some of my classmates dad's were POW's. These were very brave men placed in very bad circumstances. They were tortured, kept in solitary confinement and had many injuries and diseases that were not treated. One of my neighbors was Capt. Jim Mulligan whose family lived behind my house. His son Sean was in my class. Capt. Mulligan was being held in prison in Hanoi. I remember going door to door to collect money upon his release to help buy a flagpole and flag for his house. What a great homecoming he got!

I no longer live in Virginia Beach but a couple of years ago I drove through my old neighborhood. I was touched to see Jim Mulligan running up Old Glory up the flagpole. I am sure he does this proudly every day.

Another POW I had the privelege of knowing was Mike Christian. He was a very brave POW who lived In VA Beach after being freed. He opened up some night clubs and I met him at one club named Michaels. I want to share his flag story. I copied an account of what happened to him in prison.

Our Flag- The Stars and Stripes "Mike's Flag"
(Condensed from a speech by Leo K Thorness, recipient of theCongressional Medal of Honor. )

You've probably seen the bumper sticker somewhere along the road. It depicts an American Flag, accompanied by the words "These colors don't run." I'm always glad to see this, because it reminds me of an incident from my confinement in North Vietnam at the Hao Lo POW Camp,or the "Hanoi Hilton," as it became known.Then a Major in the U.S. Air Force, I had been captured and imprisoned from 1967-1973. Our treatment had been frequently brutal. After three years, however, the beatings and torture became less frequent. During the last year, we were allowed outside most days for a couple of minutes to bathe. We showered by drawing water from a concrete tank with a homemade bucket.One day as we all stood by the tank, stripped of our clothes, a young Naval pilot named Mike Christian found the remnants of a handkerchief in a gutter that ran under the prison wall. Mike managed to sneak the grimy rag into our cell and began fashioning it into a flag. Over time we all loaned him a little soap, and he spent days cleaning the material. We helped by scrounging and stealing bits and pieces of anything he could use. At night, under his mosquito net, Mike worked on the flag. He made red and blue from ground-up roof tiles and tiny amounts of ink and painted the colors onto the cloth with watery rice glue. Using thread from his own blanket and a homemade bamboo needle,he sewed on stars. Early in the morning a few days later, when the guards were not alert, he whispered loudly from the back of our cell,"Hey gang, look here." He proudly held up this tattered piece of cloth, waving it as if in a breeze. If you used your imagination, you could tell it was supposed to be an American flag. When he raised that smudgy fabric, we automatically stood straight and saluted, our chests puffing out, and more than a few eyes had tears. About once a week the guards would strip us, run us outside and go through our clothing. During one of those shakedowns, they found Mike's flag. We all knew what would happen. That night they came for him. Night interrogations were always the worst. They opened the cell door and pulled Mike out. We could hear the beginning of the torture before they even had him in the torture cell. They beat him most of the night. About daylight they pushed what was left of him back through the cell door. He was badly broken; even his voice was gone. Within two weeks, despite the danger, Mike scrounged another piece of cloth and began another flag. The Stars and Stripes, our national symbol, was worth the sacrifice to him. Now, whenever I see the flag, I think of Mike and the morning he first waved that tattered emblem of a nation. It was then, thousands of miles from home in a lonely prison cell, that he showed us what it is to be truly free.

[maverick]

Crimediver, the flag that I got from the post office will B going 2 the VFW 2 B properly taken of and with all the respect it deserves.

[Crimediver]

Thanks Maverick. You done good!

[mm_dm]

Crimediver, you really need to get some of these stories published. I believe you could present one of these stories to almost any group and have them draw great inspiration from them. Thanks again for sharing them with us.

[Crimediver]

Thanks. Many people can draw from them. I suspect a lot of people have flag stories. I believe the folks that like to burn our flag have not taken the time to understand what the flag represents and what sacrifice it has cost. Freedom is not free and comes with a very steep price.

[MConnelly2]

Maverick, thank you for doing that.

I got caught "taking the initiative to retire" a tattered flag years ago. Kind officer asked what I was doing, I explained, he drove on. Wife lectured for hours that my impulsiveness would get me arrested. Something about beer and judgment.

[Daz]

Originally Posted by freeski4ever

Its a wonder that some of the hadji-marts are even flying an American flag, and they probably would ignore any request to replace a seasoned flag.

If you go in to talk to them, be sure to take your robe and hood off first...

[violakat03]

My husband has 'liberated' a few flags as well. I sometimes grumble at him, usually because he wants to go buy a new one and replace theirs, I make sure that he just liberates it and takes it to the VFW, because I'm not spending my money on someone that refuses to respect our flag.

There may be a lot of things wrong with this country, but I'd say we've got a lot of things right too. I may not be the most patriotic person in the world, but the flag is something that deserves the utmost respect. Freedom is not free, and that flag represents so much more than words alone can describe.

As a young Girl Scout, I attended my first flag retirement ceremony during a campout. It was a very solemn ceremony for everyone involved and moved every single girl to tears. As a leader, I made sure our girls participated in a retirement ceremony during one of their first campouts as well and I was proud to see how respectful they were.

As for flying upside down .. the Tennessee state flag is flown upside down more often than not. It gripes my husband (a Tennessee native) no end to see it upside down in commercials (especially for politicians!), at state-funded rest areas, and pretty much everywhere else. We even saw it flown upside down in a Tennessee National Guard TV commercial. The three stars are supposed to point vaguely up and towards the flagpole, but you'll most often see it upside down so the stars are pointing away from the pole. Apparently a lot of people have no idea there's a correct direction to fly it.

[maverick]

As of sat. 8/23/08 the post office has a new flag flying. ooora