President Obama ordered flags be flown at half staff. Governors of many, if not all, states ordered the same.
Obviously what happened Thursday at Ft. Hood was a tragedy. Just as obviously, Sgt. Kimberly Munley who got shot while taking Hasan out is a hero. So are others who helped the wounded as the firing continued. So, flying the flag at half staff seems a reasonable tribute to the fallen and the heroes. But…
Why isn’t the flag flown at half mast for the soldiers killed or wounded daily in combat? Don’t they deserve the same tribute for their sacrifice? Aren’t their injuries and deaths just as tragic under their heroic circumstances? Or has the flow of coffins from overseas been too steady from unpopular wars for us to even bother with… them?
I do feel we should be honoring those who died, were wounded and took action under fire at Ft. Hood. I just wonder what it says that we don’t accord the same to the others.
Somebody tries to do something right and you want to pick a fight. Going for the Mr. Nasty award?
There is a time and place for all things and this was neither the time nor place for that question.
Take care and God bless.
In AZ, the Gov. orders flags flown at half-mast for all Arizona soldiers that die overseas. I would presume the other states do the same.
Every Missouri Soldier killed in combat is honored with a half mast flag statewide for a day and a week in their county. Sadly 3 Missourians fell in this past week.
In New Mexico at least, fallen military (and fallen police) of that state are honored with half staff flags for a month. It’s a respectful practice that I’d recommend for other states. I believe the deaths of the Ft Hood are being respected the same way here in NM because of the nature of the attack.
I agree with deowll–this is not the time for a flame war.
Loaded question and in bad taste, like the effort of a blog troll to provoke a reaction. Presidents have many duties, one of them is to channel public remorse when many die unjustly and to reassure that the danger has passed. On the other hand US military SOP for the press has changed so much that reports from the front seem like recruiting commercials. I miss the Vietnam war, there you saw young people dying on the front page of LIFE or news at 11. Now there’s none of that, not because no one’s dying, it’s because they know if it becomes too present in the public’s consciousness opposition will grow. I think the Americans need to see the hell they’re creating close up, it’s a moral responsibility.
We do honor our soldiers killed and wounded in combat. Its call Memorial Day. Quit trying to use their deaths to justify how you feel about the war, it’s disgusting.
I’m with deowll on this one. Well, except for the “God bless” thing… 😉
#6 You said it. Memorial Day is the day set for remembering those who gave their lives for the values and freedom of this nation. For those that forgot, it’s not another day to get 20% off at your local department store.
I thought about a comment for this but since I did not serve in the military I don’t feel I have the right I to except to say that I pray that the Lord watches over our men and women in uniform, that He protects them as they protect us and that He brings them back safely home to their families whether they are stationed here or abroad. Amen
Liberals’ view of the military was summed up by one protester: We support the troops when they shoot their officers.
Ceremony.
All Silly.
This seemed unnecessarily crass given the events at Fort Hood this week. If you’re attempting to draw a parallel between senseless military deaths both at home and abroad, try using a fine nib pen rather than a paint roller.
#9 – MikeN
Republicans can be summed up with one President.
Hey!!!!!—This reminds me of the “no comments” action John used on the Post when Kennedy Died.
I guess the mourning period for that is over and we can now comment on him??????
Good and bad like everyone else. I don’t like Hero Worship — ESPECIALLY politicians. As I don’t hero worship, I’d have to know more about his positions on various crime and punishment issues before I would actually judge him on the political summation scale of: hypocrisy given his driving skills.
Maybe we should make the flag poles twice as High, and fly the flag at half staff all the time?
We can’t fly the flag at half staff nationally during a war.
The flag would be at half staff for the entire war, which is ridiculous, and bad for morale.
Hey!!!!!—This reminds me of the “no comments” action John used on the Post when Ghandi Died.
I guess the mourning period for that is over and we can now comment on him??????
Good and bad like everyone else. I don’t like Hero Worship — ESPECIALLY politicians. As I don’t hero worship, I’d have to know more about his positions on various civil rights issues. Sure he wanted rights for Indians, but what about women, gays, and fat people?
Maybe we should make the flag poles twice as High, and fly the flag at half staff all the time?
It’s all a part of what I’d call War Theater, or less accurately as War Culture. We honor the deaths of civilian law enforcement and firefighters, with a lowering of the State’s flag, when death has occurred. We apparently also do this for soldiers killed, not on active duty, in some war, cut down by an act of terrorism or revenge. As is recently evident. Before 9-11, this was pretty much unheard of. I suspect that if it began happening often enough (God forbid), this practice would be reduced to a specific day. Like Memorial Day for fallen soldiers of all wars. Oh yeah, and of course we have those annual observances when the flag is supposed to be at half mast, from dawn till noon. But the vast majority of Americans don’t even know this, and put the flag all the way up, or not at all. I’ll bet many a primary school caretaker doesn’t know or care. And flies the flag the same way, every week day. We hear more about setting our bloomin clocks ahead or back one hour, from out local news stations, than anything about flying the flag at half mast. And then of course there is the disgusting commercial exploitation of these so-called “holidays”. How many times have we all heard the words “Memorial Day Sale”? How would certain marketers feel if someone came along with say a Hanukah week or Yom Kippur day sale? I’m guessing they wouldn’t approve. But apparently everything else, not of their faith, is fair game. And what’s worse is the military doesn’t say a word about it. So exploit away. Have all the sales you want. And broadcast on the airwaves, “Happy Memorial Day!”.
My point is that there are a lot of things that don’t make sense about these days and reasons for lowering the flags, and not lowering them. And it mostly boils down to “War Theater”. It’s done to put a positive face on the loss of human life. But it’s not strictly observed to the point of being an inconvenience to the economy. And since businesses often need an excuse to advertise a sale. These “days” aren’t forbidden for such use. I say that they should get their own holidays to mess with. And BTW, how come there’s no “Last Day of WW2 Sale” or “Last Day of Korean War Sale”, yet? Wouldn’t you think these would be days to celebrate? And hasn’t enough time passed, to exploit them too, if not? What’s so sacred about the end of these wars? Usually, they were just a day of signing treaties. Not any last hour battles. Again, more War Theater, there.
Hey!!!!!—This reminds me of the “no comments” action John used on the Post when Jebus Died.
I guess the mourning period for that is over and we can now comment on him??????
Good and bad like everyone else. I don’t like Hero Worship — ESPECIALLY politicians. As I don’t hero worship, I’d have to know more about his positions on various religious issues. Sure he wanted rights for Jews but what about Zoroasters and the Cult of Dionysus, or even a-t-h-e-i-s-t-s? Was Jebus in conflict with his Father, or merely a severely split schizophrenic with his various personalities?
Maybe we should make the flag poles twice as High, and fly the flag at half staff all the time?
I recall when half staff at the post office meant they were hiring.
What bugs be the most about the news coverage of this tragic event, is how the Tv stations of various states exploit the news that someone for their state was involved in the shootings. As if saying the viewing audience, “This could have been you (or a relative of yours), so pay attention.” Yeah, they’re always looking for that “hook”. Especially went it involves a military base, or a large university. Because it’s more than likely that nearly every state has someone there. But isn’t this just exploiting our clannish mindset for Tv ratings? “Of all the dead, your State suffered this loss”, would be the generic news expression. But I’ll bet these news copywriters didn’t bother contacting the next of kin, and asking if it was alright to mention their dead relation, on Tv. We’ve all become cannon fodder for the news media, and War Theater. Where the audience must also participate as well as the players. Or you’re not very patriotic, if you don’t.
#18 Hey Bobbo, good point about making the flag poles taller. At least 50% taller. Ours is only about 20′ tall, and it looks odd for the flag to be barely a few feet above the bushes. So I usually fly it 2/3 mast, rather than half way.
#19 Interesting bit of trivia Special Ed. It calls to mind someone I knew who made a political statement by affixing the flag postage stamp upside-down, on their letters. Doing so to the real flag, was once the sign of a disaster (at sea or on land?). I’m not sure, but that might be illegal to do that with stamps, now.
#18 Glenn E. – Here’s some more trivia for you: the flag is lowered to show the presence of death but it was not supposed to be half way. Just one flag’s height lower. This was supposed to make room for an invisible flag, denoting death, to fly above it. So, by flying at 2/3 mast, you’re probably being traditionally more accurate.
I stand corrected. Here is an excerpt from USC title 4 chapter 1 section 7m
“In the event of the death of a present or former official of the government of any State, territory, or possession of the United States, or the death of a member of the Armed Forces from any State, territory, or possession who dies while serving on active duty, the Governor of that State, territory, or possession may proclaim that the National flag shall be flown at half-staff, and the same authority is provided to the Mayor of the District of Columbia with respect to present or former officials of the District of Columbia and members of the Armed Forces from the District of Columbia.”
Who is the idiot that wrote this story. Soldiers purposefully go into combat knowing full well they could get killed. No one expects a massacre to occur when on base amongst comrades, so it is an entirely different scenario. Get a fulkin clue.
I can’t answer your poll, I can’t say no to ONLY flying the flags half staff there as that would be saying no to flying the flags half staff everywhere else. I can’t say yes either. I can say yes to flying it there and other places where such horrors occur in a place where it is not declared a WAR. Your poll is equally as worthless as your comment.
Also, the guy was a TERRORIST. The Dr. Phil’s of the world as seen immediately for attention on CNN are idiots with their “something drove him to do this” crap, blaming public policy for a religious extremists insanity. It had nothing to do with anything else, he MURDERED people and it was premeditated and done in the name of his god. There were warning signs basically tattooed on his forehead!
And once again, the only news network to bring these facts out minus the quest for drama was FOX.
Honestly I could care less if they flew a flag at all.
Let people fly their fabric anyway they please.
I haven’t given a fig about that silly ancient rite since the 70s. But if people wants to hang onto tradition for tradition’s sake, go for it.
Flying flags, salutes, displays of nationalism all of it means nothing when we live in a nation that has no representation for all citizens.
Cursor_
– BOBBO – we know, we know, we konw
You sound like a broken record. No heroes, no god, no ideals, no miracles, no Santa Claus, no Easter Bunny, no tooth-fairy, no beliefs whatsoever.
I really think it would be useful for you to reflect on why these things in particular should get such a rise out of you.
#26–amodedoma==you say:
– BOBBO – we know, we know, we konw /// From what you post, clearly: not.
You sound like a broken record. /// Don’t we all?
No heroes, // Very few and certainly not the one’s pushed on us by Main Stream Media and the government. Most heroes go unknown. Stooges get the press. Most of them are actually victims and quite as innocent as the rest of us.
no god, no miracles, no Santa Claus, no Easter Bunny, no tooth-fairy,/// THATS true. None at all.
no ideals, no beliefs whatsoever. /// Ideals–science, truth, liberty, charity===and many more. Beliefs–we are caretakers for the next generation===and many more.
I really think it would be useful for you to reflect on why these things in particular should get such a rise out of you. /// “Things” is fatally vague but I given the barest “start” of an outline.
I just got up, feeling feisty. I hope you and anyone else with a hankering feel like taking your best shot. I know you are just being lazy and left handed so far.
“The future is so bright, I gotta wear shades!===Now who stole my sun glasses????”
#26, Amodedoma,
And it also seems like Bobbo doesn’t believe in things that are fairy tales, hoaxes, myths, fables, lies, or coming from FOX. I consider that an intelligent view.
Of course if those things are your thing, then all the power to you. Just remember how having “faith” in Santa as an adult reflects on you.
BTW, heroes are real. Heroes like Alan Shepard, John Glenn, Christopher Columbus, the Wright Brothers, Robert Goddard, Sir Stanford Fleming, Jonas Salk, Elizabeth Stanton, the civilian side of Teddy Roosevelt, Franklyn Roosevelt, Susan B. Anthony, Louise Pasteur, Henry Hudson, … .
No, I didn’t forget the biggest heroes of them all. My mother and father. And they won’t need a flag at half mast to be honored.
President “Shout Out” is just using the flag to cover his embarrassed butt.
#28–Fusion==good morning and thank you for recognizing my consistency. Some would think me a hero for that, especially if they agreed with me????
Its been a while since we have found something to argue about. It appears we have one today. I see a “hero” as someone doing something from which he doesn’t personally benefit for the good of other people when he is in a position not to.
That lets off most soldiers/cops/firemen etc. What would any sane person do if someone is shooting at them other than shoot back??? My favorite is call the 911 Firemen who “ran into the burning buildings to save them.” No, not really. They are paid to do that job and as the Chief said on tv the next day: “If we knew the building was going to come down, we would not have gone in.” And that is the way of the world.
Same with Shepard and Glenn. Any pilot and most other folks for the pure self gratifying pleasure and challenge would be an astronaut. Nothing at all heroic.
Columbus did it 3-4 time to enslave indigenous people for the sole purpose of getting rich. Also not a hero–worse, a true villain.
Wright Bros and the scientist? Like the astronauts, the pure pleasure of pursuing what they loved. They all would have done it for free, for the satisfaction, for the knowledge.
TR might be a hero the way he busted the trusts up. Hard to say that about any politician. I’d need to know more than I do.
Susan B Anthony–she is second highest on your list. Yes, took on a life long struggle for the betterment of women/men/and herself. Dedicated to a cause you personally benefit from==well, who can really complain about suffrage???
You win with Mom and Dad. My Dad was the most remote of people. Life ruined by the Great Depression, he never recovered. Best we can say about him is: “He could have been worse.”
but without my Mom, I would be in jail typing this. I think most mothers, if they “try” really are heroes indeed. Their love should compromise/offset some of the sacrifice but the dedication shines thru.
So, we disagree on 99% but agree on the most important of all. Here’s wishing all fathers could emulate their wives just a little bit more than we do.