By Sarah Bowman
Communications Director, CAPE PAC
Today is Flag Day, but what does that mean?
It’s a day to
reflect on the history of the flag and what it means to you. Each American
looks at the flag differently, but it should instill the same feelings of
pride, joy, hope and patriotism.
Our flag has an interesting and detailed history. Our colors
are pulled from the colors of the British flag, but as Americans, we’ve made it
our own. We’ve all heard the story of Betsy Ross, of Francis Scott Key and the
Star Spangled Banner. Each stripe represents one of the original 13 colonies
and each star represents a State in our great Nation.
My personal view of the flag has changed overtime. As a kid,
I recall my parents proudly displaying the flag on our front porch, and how I
would get into trouble if they came home from work and it was raining on the
flag. My dad, a son of a Canadian immigrant, taught me the correct way to
display, handle and respect our flag.
When I became a teenager and inquired my maternal
grandfather about his service in World War 2, the flag became an even larger
source of pride for me. My Grandfather would get teary eyed when he would talk
about having to throw his bomber jacket (and everything else that wasn’t nailed
down) off of their plane so they could land on a ship designed for smaller
aircraft in the South Pacific. When my Grandfather passed away, the sight of a
flag would take me back to seeing his flag draped coffin.
A few years later, I met and married my husband, an Army
Reservist, my pride for the flag and our Nation increased even more. My former
boss, Senator Charles Grassley sent us a flag that had flown over the US
Capitol on our wedding day as a gift, one of the most thoughtful wedding gifts
we received.
When my husband was deployed to Iraq, the American flag made
me feel proud to be an American, knowing my husband, while in harms way, was
helping all Americans keep their freedoms. Before my husband left for Iraq, he
taught our son (only 1.5 years old) to salute the flag as he believed it was
never too early to teach respect for our Nation and the flag that represents it.
That son, now 6, has been taught about the flag, what it means and how to take
care of it.
“The flag still stands for freedom, and they can’t take that
away!”-Lee Greenwood
Happy Flag Day! From all of us at CAPE PAC!
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