Good Night Irene

[Benton]

(08-22-2018, 09:18 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: It's all about perception. For me, the flag and my service were almost synonymous. I took my Oath of Enlistment in front of it. It was a patch on my Uniform. It's draped over every member who gave his/her life.

You and others are free to feel differently (that's the glory of our country), but reality is that the flag (among many things) also serves as a symbol of our military. Without that deep sense of patriotism and pride in what the Flag represents, we couldn't maintain a voluntary force.

Maybe that's the disconnect? You view the flag as something relevant to service; others don't.

Each branch of the military has a flag. It represents the service of those in that branch. The US flag, on the other hand, represents the rest of us. 

I appreciate those who serve, but this represents part of the disconnect. If Americans in general don't have a flag — as it's a symbol of the military — then where are the ties that bind? Where are the 'we're all in this together' parts, as opposed to the 'this is the part of the country you aren't part of' parts?