Mary Pitt: Bring Old Glory Home

Bring home that once-glorious banner, those stars and stripes that once fluttered proudly and defiantly in the dawn's early light, that strengthened the sailors on that mighty ship that Commodore Perry commanded on the Great Lakes, that inspired the men of the Army of the North as they fought bravely and at great cost in order to preserve The Union. Bring home the flag that vanquished tyranny and the ambitions of empire in two world wars and kept the peace in the trouble spots of the world, bringing freedom from oppression and the blessings of liberty throughout the world for more than two centuries.

Bring her home to rest and recuperate; wash off the stains of the blood of innocent civilians, of women, children, and old men, the blood of American citizens, sent to fight a war that needed not to be and was based on lies rather than the sacred truth to which she was dedicated. Let time heal the wounds from mortars' fire, from bombs and land mines that tore at her as they tore at the flesh of those who were nearby. Let the true love of American patriots heal her wounds and banish her shame as she proudly flies above the graves of those so wrongly sent to die in the sands of the Middle East for the greed of arrogant men.

Send her in honor to escort food to the hungry of the world, to accompany medicine to the ill and building materials to the homeless. Let her once more signal to all who are in want that she brings the hopes and prayers of the good people of the nation which she represents. Let her send our message of love for our fellow man so that the whole world will know and love the United States and our flag once more as the sign of their salvation and the promise of freedom. Let her fly beside the Statue of Liberty as a token of the real meaning of the hopes and ambitions of all mankind.

Restore her credibility so that wherever she flies, all men who look upon her will know that she stands for human kindness and for truth and that all who suffer persecution and injustice will find deliverance under her benevolent shadow, that there they may worship God as they understand Him and pursue their dreams of freedom and the rights that are due them as human beings.

She is old and she is tired but she may proudly wave for yet more generations with tender loving care. She regenerates with every honorable task over which she presides and fades in the presence of dishonesty, lies, and treason. Now she hangs, limp and wounded, stained with the blood of innocents on behalf of the misguided in dishonorable conquest, exhausted in the task of covering the coffins of the fallen as they are brought home from the battlefields under cover of darkness and accompanying the fallen heroes to their final resting place.

Let us throw off the old, misbegotten ideas of pre-emptive attacks or preventive wars and restore diplomacy as the acceptable way of settling differences between nations. Let us work together again as members of the family of man to create peace in the world, working with respect and love to heal our neighbors' wounds and to feed the hungry, to rescue the downtrodden with kind words, good deeds, and greater opportunites for self-betterment . Then, and only then, will Old Glory be able to fly in all her olden glory, proudly wafting in the breeze over the home of the brave and the land of the free, a beacon to the world of truth and justice.

Let us work and pray for that day when Old Glory returns to her original condition. Then, when her very presence evokes pride in our souls, when our beloved democracy is truly restored, can we once again pledge our allegiance to "one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all", sing "God Bless America" with real feeling, and know once more the thrill in our hearts as she is proudly borne in our streets.

Mary Pitt is a septuagenarian Kansan who is self-employed and active in the political arena. Her concerns are her four-generation family and the continuance of the United States as a democracy with a government "of the people, by the people, and for the people". Comments and criticism may be addressed to mpitt@cox.net .

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