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Honoring our heros ( or not. )

It's not often this forum becomes a pulpit for what irks me, but one of my pet peeves is seeing flagpoles with no American flags in important holidays like this one, Memmorial Day. I have posted shots of many a pole around Burlingame with no flags displayed. All photos were taken today, May 26, 2014, Memorial Day.

For the record, today, flags are to be displayed at half mast in honor of our military service men and women. Some got it right, for example, The Burlingame Police Department and City Hall. The Fire Dept, had a flag but not at half mast, so did many others. I'll let the half mast thing slide as long as there is a flag displayed.

Here however are some embarrassing empty poles. If you know anyone who can rectify it for the next American holiday. Let them know.

Photo 1-1Photo 1-4Photo 1Photo 2Photo 2-4Photo 3-1Photo 3-3Photo 3-2Photo 4-1Photo 4-3Photo 4-4Photo 5-1

Above are examples showing many public buildings and a few private businesses, in my opinion, there are no excuses, like "we're closed on the holiday" or "we don;t have staff, etc." after all, when do we normally put up the flag? On holidays!

Here is what I think is the most egregious. Why? Because at the base of the pole is a war memorial.Located at Burlingame High track.

Photo 4-2Photo 5-2

And to be fair, here are a couple who got it right. Broadway Avenue and a private residence on Carmelita.

Photo 1-2Photo 2-2

Happy Memorial Day everyone. We salute those who have served.

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14 responses to “Honoring our heros ( or not. )”

  1. Jennifer

    Wow, what a collection. You’d think the schools would at least use the opportunity for a teaching moment–sad. Thanks for posting, Russ.

  2. AK

    I’ve flown an American Flag everyday since I realized that there are some people in our town that literally want our country to go Communist, per their direct quote to me.
    [We know that it’s never worked out, but we think it could happen, here, now!]
    I started flying it everyday about 2 years ago. I could hear one neighbor say, “It looks so gaudy!”. Another neighbor who was not born in the US said, “Oh God, now I have to drive under it everyday!”
    But, then I saw another neighbor start to fly one everyday. And, another.
    Personally, I couldn’t be prouder to be an American. Thank you to all those Americans that have served our country!
    As President Reagan once stated:


  3. Joe

    Nice job, Russ. The Hillsborough parade was fun as usual with a goodly number of flags on display.

  4. Peter Garrison

    Joe spotted a small flag had fallen on the road where the parade was to pass.He hurried to get the flag up off the ground so that no disrespect would be shown to it if someone were to inadvertently run over it. Good move Joe.

  5. Linda Lees Dwyer

    Joe: I believe that the schools do not have the flag up as there is no one at the sites to take it down at dusk and the flag poles do not have lights. The flag has to remain illuminated from dusk to dawn and unless there are lights-with no staff at the sites, the flags cannot be put up.
    We should look into volunteers handling this in the future. The flags should be flown on Memorial Day.
    Linda Lees Dwyer

  6. Russ

    Linda, there are some simple fixes to the issue you raise. The Red Cross for example does not have staff to take the flag down each evening, so they put a solar powered light that attaches to the pole to illuminate the flag. That is one simple solution. Another is to run and electrical line, ( there are many to tie into near any one of those flagpoles) so that a fixed light could shine on the flag. Flag etiquette suggests that flags can be flown 24/7 if they are illuminated.
    As I said in my original post above, it’s too easy to make excuses. While I understand the challenges, I can not except them. Some of the flags I saw flying today don;t have staff’s to take them down either, but they were still flying proudly. (Easton Branch Library is just one example, they may have a light, can’t remember.)

  7. holyroller@hotwire.com

    How ironic to see so many Government buildings not participating in this solemn National Holiday.
    Dear LLD, what you say may be fact, however, there is absolutely no viable excuse for the lack of respect for the mothers, fathers, sons, daughters and wives that gave theirs, so we could go on.
    Just one single day a year.
    This Country has been in/at War non stop since the Birth of our Nation.
    One Day, one Flag, is it really to much to ask?

  8. Joe

    @Pete–you would have done the same thing if you had seen the little flag lying there. My eyes are still pretty good 🙂
    @Linda–I think Russ’ point was to plan ahead to have people (students?) available to put the flags up and take them down at dusk. It could be coupled with a unit of study that week about what Memorial Day is all about. My guess is the students are spending a bit of time on much less useful/patriotic topics, so this should be a no-brainer for next year. You are the person to make it happen. Go for it! If you need any help, let us know. We have publicly chastised an official or two into doing the right thing before this.

  9. Linda Lees Dwyer

    I will push this forward. I like the solar idea! I also like the idea of seeing the flag when we drive by a school-illuminated at night. I also agree that we must honor those who have sacrificed their lives for this country-and those who have served this country. One day a year is 1/365–not even a speck of a fraction.

  10. Bruce Dickinson

    I hope everyone enjoyed their Memorial Day and remembered it for what it is and what we need to honor and be thankful for. Government buildings and schools not flying flags is symptomatic of what appears to be part of a larger problem. Americans are taking way too much stuff for granted. I notice this trend in Burlingame especially, because in a place of multi-million dollar homes, there’s so much to worry about to pay bills, get kids to school, juggle schedules, hire nannies, build and flip the house, etc etc. Well let me say this, if it weren’t for your being in this country and the sacrifices made by those so that you can worry about all this non-essential-to-survival stuff, you may instead be worried about other things like imprisonment, starvation, persecution, lack of basic human rights, etc. Let me be clear, Bruce Dickinson loves the good life, but I never, ever forget that had I not been born in a lucky womb who happened to live in the Bronx, NYC, USA, I would not be where I am today.
    It pains me to hear that my neighbors’ children and grandchildren, who go to Burlingame schools, only say the Pledge of Allegiance one day a week. Like there is something that is so wrong with patriotism. What do you do when a person in your life fed you the spoon of opportunity and made you into who you are today? It’s called you pay respect, and people don’t respect this country or its ideals enough because the connection to their own lives and well being is somehow not being made? I wonder why? Spend some time somewhere else, or if you can’t, ask any immigrant as to why they came to the US and how they view this country vs where they came from. You will get very different answers than what the media, pundits, politicians, or “thought leaders” like to portray.
    Bruce Dickinson was pretty much born a Democrat, like any great Hollywood staff producer in the music industry. However I would be remiss if I didn’t say that I’m tired of Democrats in the last couple of decades making everyone feel guilty about patriotism, or even worse, religion. Like somehow, you are “enlightened” if you don’t believe in some higher power. C’mon guys the very fact that you have enough religious freedom to say such things that won’t get you killed (like it does in other places) should make you at least respect other people’s beliefs. That earlier clip of Ronald Reagan said it all and, wow, what great delivery and content Ronnie had compared to the buffoonery that we’ve been getting lately. I did not agree with a lot of his policies, and he so favored the movie vs music industry, but the guy knew what was right and wrong on a deeper fundamental level. Time that we learn from our patriots rather than dismiss them.

  11. commonsense

    Our community has many local heroes to memorialize on this day. Of note: Burlingame Native and WWII Hero Frederick S. Hinze Jr.
    The US Army’s Story: He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross (Posthumously) for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy while serving as Pilot of a B-24 Heavy Bomber in the 529th Bombardment Squadron, 380th Bombardment Group (H), FIFTH Air Force (Attached to RAAF), while participating in a bombing mission on 26 October 1943, against enemy ground targets off the Island of Tinian. Captain Hinze landed his plane in the water in spite of having his right hand and right side of his face blown off. In managing to land his plane despite his injuries, he saved the lives of six members of his aircraft’s crew. The personal courage and zealous devotion to duty displayed by Captain Hinze on this occasion, at the cost of is own life, have upheld the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, the 5th Air Force, and the United States Army Air Forces.

  12. J.Mir

    Its a nice thought to fly your flag. How about though instead of expending all of this righteous energy trying to get people to fly flags in various closed government buildings, encourage our government to take better care of our veterans, and our young people to spend their time volunteering for the VA instead. They certainly need all the help they can get.

  13. AK

    It’s Flag Day today!
    I finally feel normal.
    By the way, The Sherman Restaurant boat is being hauled out today around 2:30ish at the request of The City.
    You might enjoy watching the 12 guys on the tug boat crew hook her up and bring her to Stockton.
    Fair well to what was originally the General Coxe army troop transport boat commissioned in 1922.

  14. Joe

    You beat me to the Flag Day reminder. I’m afraid a quick spin around town did not show many more flags today than on Memorial Day.

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