 "Photo: Deborah Harrison")
The U.S. flag has long stood as a symbol of freedom and democracy, and Veterans Day is a chance to fly the flag in honor of those who have served in the U.S. armed forces.
Veterans Day, Nov. 11, was created to “honor the heroes we have lost, and rededicate ourselves to the next generation of veterans by supporting our soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen as they return home from duty,” President Barack Obama wrote Oct. 30.
Flying the flag requires respecting the rules. Title 4, Chapter 1 of the U.S. Code details rules and regulations for the nation’s flag. “It is the universal custom to display the flag only from sunrise to sunset on buildings and on stationary flag staffs in the open,” the flag code states. “However, when a patriotic effect is desired, the flag may be displayed 24 hours a day if properly illuminated during the hours of darkness.”
James Demasi, coordinator of veterans affairs on this campus, said, “There’s this certain feeling you have inside when the flag is done correctly.”
Lt. Col. Gordon Tate, professor of military science, points to the flag code as an important document.
“The flag represents many things to many people,” Tate said. “The flag code beautifies traditional ways to give respect to the flag.”
Tate has been a member of the Army Reserves for nearly 23 years, he said, and is in charge of increasing the interest in an ROTC club, which is in the process of becoming a recognized club at Northwest Vista and this college.
“We want to grow the program,” Tate said. “A lot of people don’t know a lot of the opportunities” the club creates, including leadership training and potential for scholarships.
He said 11 students participate in this college’s ROTC program, and Northwest Vista has seven students.
Psychology Chair Thomas Billimek, a member of the Army Reserves for 37 years, said his last command was garrison support. Billimek was in charge of mobilizing Guard and Reserves to deploy after Sept. 11, 2001.
“The flag is a symbol of our nation and of the principles that we hold sacred,” he said. “So to honor the flag is to honor the nation and the many people who served their nation, especially those who gave their lives to defend the Constitution of the United States.”
While it is acceptable to fly the flag every day of the year, the code specifically lists certain days when it is especially important. These days include, but are not limited to, Independence Day, Inauguration Day, Lincoln’s Birthday, Washington’s Birthday, Constitution Day, Labor Day and Veterans Day.
On Memorial Day, the last Monday in May, the flag is to be at half-staff until noon.
The code recommends flying the flag near the main administration building of every public institution, in or near every polling place on election days and in or near every schoolhouse during school days.
Other rules include never using the flag as wearing apparel, bedding or drapery. It also states that the flag should never be displayed upside down, “except as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property.”
The flag code can be found here.
President Woodrow Wilson declared Armistice Day on Nov. 11, 1919, the one-year anniversary of the implementation of armistice, a temporary cessation of hostilities, between the Allies and Germany at the 11th hour of the 11th day of November 1918. While the Treaty of Versailles was not signed until 1919, the 1918 armistice was the first step toward ending the Great War, now known as World War I.
Legislation was passed May 13, 1938, declaring Armistice Day a legal federal holiday, according to the U.S. Army Center of Military History’s Web site. President Dwight Eisenhower signed legislation June 1, 1954, to change the name of the holiday from Armistice Day to Veterans Day, to include veterans from U.S. military campaigns after World War I, including World War II and the Korean War.
The day of observance for Veterans Day was briefly changed to the fourth Monday of October in 1968 and took effect in 1971, but was changed back to Nov. 11 in 1978 under pressure of popular support throughout the nation.
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