Joe LeVangie may fly his American flag

Mr. LeVangie, thank you for showing our young people how important the American flag really is. You are one of its loyal defenders sir.



God Save the Flag
by Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr

Washed in the blood of the brave and the blooming,
Snatched from the altars of insolent foes,
Burning with star-fires, but never consuming,
Flash its broad ribbons of lily and rose.

Vainly the prophets of Baal would rend it,
Vainly his worshippers pray for its fall;
Thousands have died for it, millions defend it,
Emblem of Justice and Mercy to all:

Justice that reddens the sky with her terrors,
Mercy that comes with her white-handed train,
Soothing all passions, redeeming all errors,
Sheathing the sabre and breaking the chain.

Borne on the deluge of old usurpations,
Drifted our Ark o'er the desolate seas,
Bearing the rainbow of hope to the nations,
Torn from the storm-cloud and flung to the breeze !

GOD BLESS the FLAG and its loyal defenders,
While its broad folds o'er the battle-field wave,
Till the dim star-wreath rekindle its splendors,
Washed from its stains in the Blood of the Brave

New Hampshire Residents: Stand With Joe LeVangie

88 year-old Joe LeVangie, a World War II Navy veteran living in Hillsborough, New Hampshire, is "madder than hell." Why? Because the management company at his apartment complex ordered him to take down his American flag. EJL Management informed LeVangie that flag displays at the Maple Leaf complex violate the same rules that prohibit lawn ornaments and grills.

Lawn ornaments and grills? Is this what EJL Management thinks of the American flag? Our nation's greatest symbol is lumped with lawn ornaments and barbecue grills?

Now I'm madder than hell. Sometimes we are called to "be angry and sin not" (Ephesians 4: 26).

Mr. LeVangie said that he used to fly his flag, "In respect for all the troops serving overseas now and for those who never came back." One of those who never came back was my uncle Arthur Melanson. He was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. For him, the flag was something more than a lawn ornament or a barbecue grill. And he gave his life in service to country and flag.

Everyone who loves the American flag and the country it represents should be "madder than hell."

Duty, honor, country. For some of us, these are more than empty words.