America's Freedom Festival at Provo

An open letter to theAmerica's Freedom Festival at Provo executive Board:

I attended today's parade, as I have for the past 20 years. I am always amazed at the number of people in attendance. I am also always impressed with the amount of work that is put into the planning and co-ordinating and pulling off such a celebration as the Freedom Festival.

Every year I am excited to attend the parade. I anticipate the moment the colors of my country's flag come into view. And each and every year I am overcome with emotion when I see that standard flying in the breeze. The red, white and blue bring tears to my eyes and I am grateful for those, (such as my 2 Marine sons who just came home from Iraq), willing to pay the price and sacrifice for me to remain free and able to display with pride those colors of our flag.

I also wait in anticipation to see who has the honor of carrying those colors, that ensign, that standard of liberty and freedom. And I am always excited for them that they got that honor. How thrilled they must be to be able to bear the colors the entire parade route and remind those in attendance that we are celebrating life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Imagine my disappointment this morning when there was no color guard, no standard bearer, in fact, no standard at all.

Again I was overcome with emotion, but this time it was saddness that there was no symbol of our freedom to honor and salute. There was also sadness that no one else around me seemed to realize that there had been no flag. How can they be so unaware when this very day was set aside to remember our freedoms and those that paid for it.

The next emotion I felt was betrayal. How could you, as the parade organizers, overlook this most important part of our Freedom Festival. Yes, I know there are a lot of things to do, a lot of entries to sort through and line up and make sure the marching bands are not next to the horses but still spaced just right and the floats are not bunched and so many things that I do not even know need done. But this should have been the first parade entry secured before any other was accepted and place. How dare you take my flag from me.

The final emotion I felt was anger. It is these very small things that have allowed so many of our freedoms to be stripped from us. We no longer require our students to stand for the pledge every day. Our citizens no longer know the words to our national anthem nor do they know and understand the actions that were behind the writing of that poem. Nor do they know and understand the basics of our flag act and the proper way to display and honor our flag. And your behavior in not having a color guard is another step down the path of citizens that do not seem to care. If we as citizens do not wake up and make our voices heard, it will not be long before the display of our standard of liberty and freedom will not just be an overlooked or forgotten thing, but a forbidden thing.

I do not know why there was no color guard to begin today's grand parade. It may have been deliberate or it may be an oversight, overlooked in the myriad of other tasks needed to be done to move the festival along in the wonderful manner that you do each and every year. However, I would like to register my complaint that there was no color guard this year and I am hurt, saddened, betrayed and angry.

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Indeed.

HAPPY FLAG DAY!!

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Indeed.

My Flag, My Flag, My Country's Flag

My dad calls Wal-Mart "the great and spacious building". Still, I shop there because it is close, it is convenient, lower prices and I can always find something I didn't know I needed. This morning, however, I was offended to my very core.

I needed some containers to help in the organization of my office. After I chose them, I headed over to the seasonal aisle to pick up some bunting and other do-dads for decor for this week. There was no seasonal aisle for the 4th of July. Nothing, Nada, Nunca, zippo. I finally located an endcap with a few military flags, small flags on sticks,a music box that played 3 patriot songs and waved a flag when you punched the button, and headbands with light up glittery stars on them.

I asked an employee if that was all of their patriotic merchandise. She stated that they had colored paper plates around the corner. Now, if the pitiful offerings I had just been presented with was not enough what I was confronted with when I turned the corner made me so angry. The "colored plates" had the flag, the American flag, printed all over them. And sitting right next to them were packages full of paper, throw away, napkins emblazoned with the symbol of our rights and liberties. The flag of my country used to wipe the ketchup, mustard and relish off of someone's face!

You may not realize it, but we do have fedral law that regulates the way our flag should be treated. We started out with very little to govern how to treat our standard. In fact, there was a time when it was ok to write on the flag. But we do have a flag code that should be followed:

American Flag Etiquette.
Federal law stipulates many aspects of flag etiquette. The section of law dealing with American Flag etiquette is generally referred to as the Flag Code. Some general guidelines from the Flag Code answer many of the most common questions:

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  *The flag should be lighted at all times, either by sunlight or by an appropriate light source. *The flag should be flown in fair weather, unless the flag is designed for inclement weather use.
  *The flag should never be dipped to any person or thing. It is flown upside down only as a distress signal.
  *The flag should not be used for any decoration in general. Bunting of blue, white and red stripes is available for these purposes. The blue stripe of the bunting should be on the top.
  *The flag should never be used for any advertising purpose. It should not be embroidered, printed or otherwise impressed on such articles as cushions, handkerchiefs, napkins, boxes, or anything intended to be discarded after temporary use. Advertising signs should not be attached to the staff or halyard.
  *The flag should not be used as part of a costume or athletic uniform, except that a flag patch may be used on the uniform of military personnel, fireman, policeman and members of patriotic organizations.
  *The flag should never have any mark, insignia, letter, word, number, figure, or drawing of any kind placed on it, or attached to it.
  *The flag should never be used for receiving, holding, carrying, or delivering anything.
  *When the flag is lowered, no part of it should touch the ground or any other object; it should be received by waiting hands and arms. To store the flag it should be folded neatly and ceremoniously.
  *The flag should be cleaned and mended when necessary.
  *When a flag is so worn it is no longer fit to serve as a symbol of our country, it should be destroyed by burning in a dignified manner.

In our lives, we use symbols all the time. A gold ring on the third finger of someone's left hand represents a commitment to love and honor another person, to give your life for theirs if need be. A pole with red, blue and white stripes means a barber works in the building. Big golden arches mean someone is going to ask if you want fries with that. A piece of cloth with 13 alternating red and white stripes, a blue field with 50 white stars means that men and women died so that I have the right to voice my opinion on this matter. Their blood was spilled so that I have the right to choose what kind of life I want, to pursue my dreams or not as I so choose. My boys are willing to die to preserve that freedom for everyone that lives here. Yet this weekend someone will take the symbol of their sacrifice and eat off of it and wipe their dirty hands on it and throw it away and call it patriotism.

When **Amalickiah wanted to be king and hold all the power, and many of the Nephites were flattered by his words and listening to him, Moroni made a standard, a banner, a flag, even a Title of Liberty, that all were to fly from their homes that when they looked upon it they would remember. These are the words he wrote upon it:

"In memory of our God,

Our religion, and freedom,

and our peace, our wives,

and our children"

He also knelt down and prayed to our Heavenly Father "for the blessings of liberty to rest upon his brethren, so long s there should a band of Christians remain to possess the land." In verse 30 of Alma 46 we read how Moroni called his people together to remembrance by saying,

"Behold, whosoever will maintain this title upon the land, let them come forth in the strength of the Lord, and enter into a covenant that they will maintain their rights, and their religion, that the Lord God may bless them."

It is time that we, the American people, opened our eyes and realized that we have allowed so many things to become common place and profane. (Profane- to take something sacred and make it ordinary) We do not even see the flag anymore. Does your heart stir when you see the flag stirring in the breeze? When you hear the national anthem, do you stop and listen? When you attend a parade, do you stand and place your hand over your heart when Old Glory passes by? Do you raise a silent prayer to the heavens in gratitude for those that made this life possible for you? What price freedom? It was purchased dearly for us and we should do no less than to honor the symbol of that price.

"Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price o chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! Give me liberty, or give me death."

Patrick Henry, March 23, 1775

The title of this post was taken from a song in the Children's hymn book

*Taken from the American Flag Site
**Alma Chapter 46, The Book of Mormon

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Indeed.