Dear Editor:

Any time I see our flag burned in a country, especially our own, I take it personal. The cloth of stars and stripes followed many a soldier through the last few hundred years into battles. They walked into the enemy territory with all their might; win or lose, the flag still stood.

Our country may have leaders we do not agree with sometimes, or all the time; but the flag symbolizes the lives of those before us who made it our living here, happen. We voted these people in, whether they were good leaders or not. We can speak against them and their ideas.  

We can make or change any law we want in this country, pass bills, cheer D.C. or stand against it all. We have the right to protest. We are not the perfect country of the world, but we are luckier than anyone else on the globe — thanks to the flag. No matter what is thrown at us, we are the most independent country of the world. No matter what happens to the market or what is in the news. Jobs come and go maybe, but the flag is the hope.

So I hang a flag, from someone who carelessly threw one in the trash; it hangs proudly at my front door.

The only way the flag should be shown, is hanging proudly, flapping in the wind.

Rose Murphy

Fairhope