Lower the flag to honor war dead

By A TIMES EDITORIAL
Published July 5, 2007

Rep. Bart Stupak of Michigan noticed it during a funeral procession for a fallen soldier in his rural district. Flags at state buildings the procession passed were lowered to half-staff while flags at federal facilities were not. "The family said it really hurt and confused them why that was the case, " he said.

So Stupak shepherded a bill through Congress that would require federal officials to follow the protocol established by governors for lowering flags to honor soldiers from that state who die while on active duty. Appropriately, President Bush signed the bill into law before the July Fourth holiday.

About half the states already follow the practice, according to a New York Times story, though details vary. In some cases, state and American flags are lowered to half-staff only at the Capitol, while other states observe the ritual statewide. Currently, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist orders the state flag flown at half-staff for a fallen soldier from the state, but only in a community that requests it, his press office said.

The federal flag code had left some discretion as to when a flag is to be flown at half-staff, other than on the occasions listed: at the death of presidents and other highly ranked federal officials, governors and members of Congress. The president or a governor can order flags lowered as "a mark of respect" for individuals or a group. Bush did so to honor those killed by a gunman at Virginia Tech University.

Surprisingly, a variety of interests opposed lowering flags for a soldier's death - including some federal officials, flag protocol experts and supporters of Bush's Iraq policy who see the practice as an antiwar statement. Even Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, a Democrat and vocal war critic, doesn't favor the practice. "I think putting the flag at half-staff is a strong symbolic thing to do, but ... doesn't require anything of us either as political leaders or as citizens."

Protocol expert Joyce Doody, executive director of the National Flag Foundation, fears frequent flag lowerings could lead to a "trivializing" of the symbol. "We want to make sure that half-staffing remains a significant, unique gesture of national mourning, " she told ABC News.

The schism over how to honor our war dead is unfortunate because it is a point on which you would think (or at least hope) Americans could agree. Some may very well mean to use the powerful symbol of a flag at half-staff as a political statement, either for or against the war. But that shouldn't stop Americans from recognizing the sacrifices made by our soldiers and expressing their gratitude to the fallen and their families.

There is nothing trivial or routine about a soldier's death. Now, a governor can decide if a flag at half-staff is an appropriate way to mark the death of a soldier from that state. Importantly, the decision will apply to all flags in the state, whether flown on state or federal land.

[Last modified July 4, 2007, 21:12:23]