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“JUST A PIECE OF CLOTH” A few years ago, I
was in my car listening to a radio call-in-talk show and the topic of
conversation was that of whether it was proper for people to bum the American
flag in protest or if it was a protected individual freedom. During the talk
show, someone called in and said they didn't understand what all the
controversy was about over "just a piece of cloth." The image struck
me immediately of the Marines on Iwo Jima with their faces down in volcanic ash
and looking up at Mount Suribachi to see the flag being raised. Surely, they
didn't consider it to be just a piece of cloth. When I arrived home
that evening, I put the following thoughts down on paper and I believe that
this expresses my beliefs and my feelings of who I am and the love that I have
for this country, entitled it: "JUST A PIECE OF CLOTH"I was with Colonel Parker and the Minutemen at Lexington
and Concord to hear "The Shot Heard 'Round The World" that began the
American Revolution. I was with General Washington when he crossed the Delaware
and suffered with his men in the harsh winter at Valley Forge. Did they fight and die for just a piece of cloth? I was with Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys at
Ticonderoga and with Washington, Hancock, and the Marquis de Lafayette to
accept surrender terms at Yorktown with the British playing that old European
tune "The World Turned Upside Down" Did they fight and die for just a piece of cloth? I was with Andrew Jackson and Jean Laffite at the Battle
of New Orleans in 1812. 1 was with Bowie, Crockett, and Travis at the Alamo. Did they fight and die for -just a piece of cloth? I was with Lee and Longstreet and all the Boys in Gray
at Gettysburg and I was with all the Boys in Blue with General Mead and Colonel
Chamberlain on Little Round Top. I was with Grant in the Wilderness and at
Vicksburg. I was with both the Blue and the Gray when our country was healed at
Appomattox. Did they fight and die for just a piece of cloth? I was with Teddy
Roosevelt and the Rough Riders on San Juan Hill and with Admiral Dewey and the
Great White Fleet in Manila Bay. I was with the Doughboys in World War I, the
"War To End All Wars" and now lie buried in Flanders Field. Did they fight and die for just a piece of cloth? I was with Admiral Isaac Kidd aboard the ARIZONA that
fateful Sunday morning in 1941. I was with the infantry that landed on beaches
so far away named Omaha, Juno, Utah, Sword and Gold. Did they fight and die for just a piece of cloth? I was with General Wainwright on Correigador. I was with
Admiral Fletcher in the Battle of the Coral Sea. I was aboard ENTERPRISE,
HORNET and YORKTOWN at Midway. Did they fight and die for just a piece of cloth? I fought at Kwajalein, The Battle of Leyte Gulf, at
bloody Tarawa, Guadalcanal, and Iwo Jima and served on destroyers on picket
duty off Okinawa. Did they fight and die for -just a piece of cloth? I flew Saber Jets in
MIG Alley in North Korea and I was with the Marines at Chosin Reservoir. I was
with the Navy at Inchon Harbor and fought on hills and ridges called Bloody,
Heartbreak, Old Baldy, and Porkchop. Did they fight and die for -oust a piece of cloth? I flew bombing missions over Hanoi and was on Rat
patrol in the Mekong Delta. I was with the Navy on Yankee Station in the Tonkin
Gulf. I flew night missions over Bagdad and was with the battalions in Desert
Storm. Did they fight and die for just a piece of cloth? Freedom is not free.
It has a price and it has been paid many times by many people. I am a product
of my past. I am an American and I am free. The above
was written and presented to Tin Can Sailors Association Banquet at the annual
conference in Las Vegas, Nevada on February 6, 1996 by: H. Maury Drummond Executive
Director, Louisiana War Memorial (Includes USS KIDD) President,
Historic Naval Ships Association Used by
permission of author |
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