Jaki Jean & the Flag

Tomorrow I am taking four American flags to the VFW Hall in Stafford for proper retirement & disposal. 

At the same VFW Hall where I once delivered an anti-war speech during Vietman that won second place in a Voice of Democracy Contest.

I still have that medal.  ;-)

I found the flags in closets while cleaning up the aftermath of recent sewer flood.

Forgotten & neglected.

Curious about the whole retirement & proper disposal of the flag, I looked it up.  Only to learn that one needs to fold the flag properly when taking it in for disposal.

Which requires folding it the same way the military folds the flags covering a coffin & gives it to the family.  Into a triangle.

The way we have all watched as the coffins of our family & friends who were vets were covered & folded.

It is a difficult task to do alone.  And as I folded each of the flags, I began to weep at the loss of young lives, of vibrant leaders, of my father.  Who did not die in the Korean War, but died too soon.

All I wanted to do was dispose of the flags in a respectful way.

I did not anticipate an onslaught of sorrow & patriotism & an overwhelming sense of loss.

It seems even a liberal rebel cannot move past some traditions & symbols.