The meaning of Flag Day

On this Flag Day, Doug Leaman of Oaks, Pa., offers this poignant personal remembrance of Old Glory, originally published as an op-ed in The Pottstown Mercury.

Pause for a moment and consider the significance of the flag

My wife bought a new American flag and boy does it look sharp flying above the front porch, sandwiched between a dogwood and red maple tree with a giant evergreen in the background. Our old flag saw better days after flip-flopping in the wind and becoming torn, tattered and tangled on the pole that extended from our porch.

This new flag means more to me than a new car, mainly because of the symbolism it represents. You can't buy courage and bravery, hope and purity, reverence to God, loyalty, justice, power and ambition. And these are the symbols of the Stars and Stripes.

Every now and then, just before I leave for work each morning, I pause for a moment to reflect on the significance of "our flag." Look how many lives were lost over the centuries to make sure Old Glory was planted in the soil of foreign nations. And when members of the armed forces lost their lives, they came home in caskets draped with American flags. The last epitaph of our heroes demise are the Marine Honor Guards touring cemeteries throughout the nation playing taps, firing gun salutes, folding American flags and presenting them to the spouses on behalf of the president of the United States.

When I come home from work and pull into the driveway (whether during the season of a winter wonderland or the blossoming springtime), the American flag always steals the show. Perhaps it's the colors, the design or the waving movement when the wind blows. Or could it be that our flag is as much a part of me as eating, drinking and sleeping? For when I was a youngster during the 1940s, practically every house on our block flew the flag because it represented patriotism.

After the war, my father kept the flag display alive by placing a small flag in a flower pot outside our row home and made sure it was taken care of with tender loving care.

For the last 40 years, Old Glory has been flying high from our front porch because it's a memorial to our American way of life and a tribute to those who served in the Armed Forces and gave their lives in defense of freedom at home and abroad.

While our flag practically flies everywhere throughout America, may it always be a sense of inspiration, hope and freedom in a troubled world.

DOUG LEAMAN
Oaks