ANALYSIS/OPINION:

I don’t know if I’m sad or angry. Some 20 to 40 years ago when our president ordered the American flag to half-mast, almost all flags were lowered in order to honor those the president was trying to honor. Today we are lucky if half the flags are lowered.

During the upcoming Memorial Day parades throughout our region, the American flag will pass by numerous people who will just sit and watch it go by. Respect for our flag starts at home. Those who respond appropriately to our flag are rare. Is it because civics isn’t taught in our schools or homes like it once was?

At ceremonies Monday, politicians will mention police, firefighters and even veterans like me. But it’s not our day, it’s the day we honor those men and women who didn’t come back alive. In some towns, most businesses don’t lower the flag when asked or even when the law requires it. One firehouse I know of rarely lowers the flag, and it sits across the street from a bank that lowers it every time. The bank is owned by a Canadian company.

Flying the American flag is an honor that comes with a great deal of responsibility. Decades ago we didn’t have apps or email notices telling us we should be flying the flag at half-mast, yet we lowered the flag all the time. I’m very sad.

JOHN C. COLLINS

Monroe, N.Y.

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