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2004 Soap Box Archives How Can We Forget? 08/09/04 I recently received an e-mail from a lady about a situation which happened in her hometown. They were having a municipal function and there was a group of citizens who wanted to display the Vietnam prisoners of war flag at the event. Well, it seems that the mayor of this town informed them that they couldn’t fly the P.O.W. flag because it was not official. I fail to see what being official has to do with reminding the world that there are soldiers who never made it home from Vietnam and were never accounted for. This
in itself is a disgrace on the face of America, to leave brave
men behind without even giving their families the satisfaction
of knowing whether they’re dead or living in some bamboo
cage in If we’re going to send our young people off to war the very least we can do for them is to let them know that they’ll never be left behind and never be forgotten. The P.O.W. flag, to me, is the Vietnam equivalent of the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It’s saying, “We don’t know who you are and we don’t know where you are, but we will remember you and we’ll never be satisfied until we know.” Personally I think this mayor is taking a lot on himself to deny the families of these heroes the small consolation to remind the American public that we did a dishonorable thing when we left Vietnam and that there are still those of us in this country who care and still want closure to this sordid event. We not only left brave men behind in Vietnam. We left behind a piece of America’s conscience and a good-sized piece of our national honor. The way some of our Nam vets were treated when they came home from a war they didn’t start and were given no chance to win is a national disgrace. Anyone who fought in Vietnam deserves just as much honor and just as much glory as anyone who ever fought a war for the United States of America. The regurgitation of John Kerry’s remarks paints the misdeeds of a handful of renegades with a broad enough brush as to dishonor the overwhelming majority of decent human beings who served their country with integrity and honor. Enough is enough. The Vietnam Veterans have faced a heartbreaking set of circumstances, public rejection, emotional and physical scars and the scourge of Agent Orange. They don’t need nor deserve anything less than our profound respect and heartfelt gratitude, in whatever ways we can make up to them the disgraceful behavior of a cadre of shaggy hippies and elitist college students who spit on them and called them baby killers. And if flying the P.O.W. flag is a source of comfort to them or their loved ones why should a mayor of an American city stand in the way just because it’s not official. Shame on you sir. Pray for our troops. What do you think? God Bless America Charlie Daniels
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