From: jewell@MACE.CC.PURDUE.EDU (Larry Jewell)
Newsgroups: soc.veterans
Subject: 'NamVet Newsletter Annual #2 4/7
Date: 26 Jul 92 01:29:39 GMT


     black  Raven  flag of the Vikings,  brought here by Leif  Ericson
     early in the 11th century.
       Almost  500  years passed before Columbus brought the  flag  of
     Spain,  and  in so doing,  opened the door to armies of explorers
     unfurling  banners  of  many  colors  and  designs  -  a  virtual
     catalogue of the Old World.
       Cartier  charted  the St.  Lawrence under the fleurs-de-lis  of
     France.   Sweden's  yellow  cross  on a blue field  flew  over  a
     military  colony along the Delaware River.   The red,  white  and
     blue of the Dutch protected the colonists of New Amsterdam.   Add
     to  these the old czarist flag of Russia and those of Mexico  and
     the  kingdom of Hawaii;  all of them staking out colonies and new
     wealth for the Old World or seeking out a different way of life.
       Here,  too,  came  the separate flags of England and  Scotland,
     borne  by  men  who more than any others were  to  determine  the
     future of the new continent.
     
                         THE BIRTH OF THE COLORS
       Of all the colors in the spectrum,  why is our flag red,  white
     and  blue?   These colors that would come to symbolize our  great
     union of states were themselves born of another great union.
     
     NAM VET Second Anniversary Edition                        Page 46
     Volume  2, Number  1                            November 11, 1989

       England  and Scotland,  long bitter rivals,  were united  under
     common rule in 1603 when James VI, the Scottish king, also became
     ruler of England.  He faced an immediate controversy - which flag
     should fly over the new union?   The English flag of St.  George,
     with  a red cross on a white field?   Or the Scottish flag of St.
     Andrew, showing a white cross on a blue field?   The question was
     argued  until 1606,  when King James ordered that the two crosses
     be  joined  on a single flag symbolizing the union of  two  great
     peoples.
       Together  the  red  and white English flag and blue  and  white
     Scottish  flag became the red,  white and blue Union Jack.   This
     was  the  flag  that flew over the colonies until the  spirit  of
     revolution rose.   Although the Union Jack did not remain in this
     country after that revolution, its colors did.
     
                           FLAGS OF DISCONTENT
       Long  before  the revolution the independent character  of  the
     colonies was revealed in their flags.
       There were as many flags as there were colonies, and many state
     flags today carry some of the early revolutionary symbols.  Rhode
     Island  chose a white flag with a blue anchor and the word "Hope"
     emblazoned on it.   A flag in South Carolina had a white crescent
     and  the word "Liberty".   On its flag,  Massachusetts  inscribed
     "Appeal to Heaven" beneath a pine tree.
       That  the colonists also were beginning to think of  themselves
     as  united  was shown by several banners representing regions  or
     common  causes.   The  oldest of these was that of  New  England,
     which  dated back to 1686.   It had a solid red field with a  red
     cross  in  the  white canton and a pine tree in  the  upper  left
     quadrant of the canton.   It was a version of this flag that flew
     at  Bunker  Hill.   Another  colonial  resistance  flag  was  the
     "Rebellious  Stripes,."   the  banner of the Sons of Liberty  who
     staged the Boston Tea Party.   It showed nine alternating red and
     white stripes representing the nine colonies that participated in
     the Stamp Act Congress.
       Slowly but inexorably,  the colors and patters for the American
     Flag were coming together.
     
                               JOIN, or DIE
                            A FLAG OF DEFIANCE
       One  of the most powerful and popular of colonial flag  symbols
     was  the  rattlesnake.   Benjamin  Franklin used  a  "curved  and
     sliced"  rattler on the masthead of his famous Gazette,  with the
     warning "Join or Die."  America's first naval Commander-in-Chief,
     Esek  Hopkins,  had  for his personal flag a coiled rattler on  a
     yellow field with another warning, "Don't Tread on Me."
       Many  colonists  felt  the  rattler should be  a  part  of  the
     official flag of a united colonies.  They argued:
       "The rattlesnake is found only in America.   It has bright eyes
     with no lids,  symbolizing constant vigilance.   It never attacks
     first.   It never surrenders.   It never strikes without warning.
     It  commonly  has  13 separate yet firmly united rattles  on  its
     tail.   Each  rattle  makes  little noise by  itself,but  the  13
     together alarm the boldest of men."
       Our  flag  might  have  had a rattlesnake  but  for  the  still
     stronger  argument  of those colonists who could not see "how  or
     why  a venomous serpent could be the emblem of a brave and honest
     folk fighting to be free."   It was an argument to which even the
     rattlesnake yielded.
     
     NAM VET Second Anniversary Edition                        Page 47
     Volume  2, Number  1                            November 11, 1989

     
                              THE RED DUSTER
       Even  after King James VI established the Union Jack,   British
     ships of trade and war showed a red flag with either the Cross of
     St.  George  or  the Cross of St.  Andrew in the  upper  hoisting
     corner.
     
       In  1707,  Queen Anne changed that naval ensign.   She  ordered
     that  the practice of flying the separate crosses be stopped  and
     that the Union Jack be in the flag's corner.  The solid red field
     remained.  This flag became known as the British Red Ensign,  or,
     more popularly, the "Red Duster," and was a common sight in early
     American harbors and settlements.
       It  was this flag that the colonists,  early in  1776,  altered
     and,  in  so doing,  signaled the impending outbreak of war  with
     England.
     
                           SIGNAL OF REVOLUTION
       On  January  1,  1776,  six  months before the  Declaration  of
     Independence,  General  George Washington ordered a bold new flag
     raised at the top of Prospect Hill in Charlestown, Massachusetts,
     and  in so doing announced the creation of the Continental  Army.
     The  banner was the British "Red Duster"  with the Union Jack  in
     the canton,  but with six white stripes cutting through the solid
     red field.  This made thirteen alternating red and white stripes,
     standing  for  the thirteen colonies at war with  England.   This
     flag became known as the "Continental Colors" or the "Grand Union
     Flag."   For six months this was the flag of the united colonies,
     and  on July 4,  1776,  became the flag of an independent  United
     States of America.
       After  that day the people of the new country wanted a distinct
     flag  to symbolize their new independence.   Almost a year was to
     pass, however, before the Continental Congress responded.
     
                          THE BIRTHDAY OF A FLAG
       As  the war with England wore on,  a new flag symbolizing a new
     nation was in order.
       On  June 14,  1777,  the Continental Congress concerned  itself
     with a number of routine matters.  Two orders of payment of money
     to  John  Murray  were approved.   A letter from Amos  Throop  of
     Providence  was  read  and referred to  the  Maritime  Committee.
     Various monies were appropriated for military purposes in the war
     with England.
       And   then,   almost  incidentally,   the  Congress  passed   a
     resolution:
       "Resolved:   that  the Flag of the united states be 13  stripes
     alternate  red and white,  that the Union be 13 stars white in  a
     blue field representing a new constellation."
       With no more fanfare than that the old Union Jack that spoke of
     loyalty  to  England was removed and a field of stars joined  the
     red and white stripes.
       Strange  as it may seem today,  the resolution that created the
     flag  was not even reported in the newspapers until three  months
     later,  and  the  birthdate  of our flag -  June  14  -  was  not
     officially proclaimed Flag Day until 1915!
     
                        SYMBOL OF A NEW SEA POWER
       On the same day Congress gave birth to our flag - June 14, 1777
     -  it  also granted a naval commission to John Paul Jones.   That
     
     NAM VET Second Anniversary Edition                        Page 48
     Volume  2, Number  1                            November 11, 1989

     single act was to bring early recognition to the flag it had just
     created.
       After Jones outfitted his ship, RANGER,  he moved into friendly
     French water.  On February 14,  1778,  in the harbor of Quiberon,
     French  and American ships exchanged flag salutes.   This was the
     first foreign recognition of the Stars and Stripes.
       Two  months  later,  Jones met and defeated the  British  ship,
     DRAKE,  and  for the first time the Stars and Stripes was hoisted
     over a defeated vessel.
       Most  importantly,  the  victory made our flag a symbol  to  be
     reckoned with, a fact which Jones underscored dramatically in one
     of the great sea battles of our early history.
       Commanding  the  BON HOMME RICHARD,  Jones met and engaged  the
     British SERAPIS on September 23, 1779.  At a point in battle when
     the  balance favored the British,  Jones was asked to  surrender.
     He replied, "I have not yet begun to fight."   The tide of battle
     and the future of our navy turned.  The SERAPIS fell.
       The  leaders of a young nation had created a flag.   John  Paul
     Jones gained for it a new measure of respect.
     
                    DIFFERENT STARS, DIFFERENT STRIPES
       The flag resolution adopted by Congress on June 14,  1777,  was
     vague,  calling only for 13 alternating red and white stripes and
     13 white stars on a blue field.   Both the stars and stripes were
     to correspond with the number of states in the union.
       Perhaps  the  oldest version of the Stars and Stripes  was  the
     Bennington banner, carried on August 16, 1777,  during the Battle
     of  Bennington in New York State,  just over the Vermont  border.
     This  flag  carried  an  arch  of  11  stars  beneath  which  was
     emblazoned  "76".   The two upper corners of the blue field  also
     carried a star.
       There  were  other  major  differences between  the  stars  and
     stripes on early banners and the flag we know today.
       Early  flags had stars with four to seven points;  today's have
     five.   The field sometimes started and ended with a white stripe
     making  7  white and 6 red stripes.   Today's starts with  a  red
     stripe, having 7 red and 6 white.
       The  clear  intent of the 1777 flag resolution was to give  our
     nation  a  single symbol.   It led instead to many versions  and,
     unfortunately, many romantic legends and serious doubts about the
     true origins of the flag.
     
                             LEGEND OF A LADY
       The  maker  of the first Stars and Stripes remains  a  mystery.
     The  cherished  American tradition is that Betsy Ross  was  given
     that task by General Washington himself.
       No  authentic records of the time,  however,  substantiate  the
     story.   The  annals of the Continental Congress do not.   Nor do
     the  personal writings of anyone,  including General  Washington.
     All  that is known of Betsy Ross is that she was paid 14  pounds,
     12  shillings and twopence by the Pennsylvania State Naval  Board
     in May, 1777, for making ships colors.
       How then, did the legend begin?
       Surprisingly,  Betsy  Ross's supposed connection with the first
     Stars  and Stripes was completely unknown until 1870,  almost 100
     years after the alleged event, when William J. Canby, grandson of
     Mrs.  Ross,  read  a  paper  before the  Philadelphia  Historical
     Society.   Canby's  paper was based primarily on recollections of
     conversations he'd had with his grandmother.
     
     NAM VET Second Anniversary Edition                        Page 49
     Volume  2, Number  1                            November 11, 1989

       It  was an appealing tale,  and artists and storytellers of the
     day were quick to embellish it.
       But the legend has become so widespread and charming that it is
     still taught in many schools.
     
                         A THIRST FOR RECOGNITION
       The  name  of the designer of the first Stars and  Stripes  has
     never been confirmed, although one man did make a formal claim to
     that  honor.   That  man  was  a signer  of  the  Declaration  of
     Independence and a member of the Congress that made the Stars and
     Stripes our flag on June 14, 1777.
       In 1780,  Francis Hopkinson of New Jersey requested recognition
     for  some "devices"  he had created,  including "the flag of  the
     United  States of America."   Hopkinson wanted a small reward for
     these "labours of fancy"  and suggested a "quarter cask of public
     wine."
       Congress  demanded a more detailed statement.   Hopkinson  then
     put a value of nine pounds -  about $45 -  hard money on his flag
     design.
       Congress  refused  the  claim.    Hopkinson,   angered  by  the
     rejection,  resigned  his governmental position but continued  to
     press for compensation.   In 1783,  Congress finally decided that
     "the report relative to the fancy work of F. Hopkinson out not to
     be  acted upon"  and he received neither recognition,  nor money,
     nor public wine.
       There  is  no question that Hopkinson did some design  work  on
     some flag.   Whatever work he did do,  however,  was not regarded
     seriously, for the flag was to change many more times -  both its
     stars and its stripes.
     
                         THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER
       At the height of the war of 1812,  an American,  Doctor William
     Beans,  was  held  prisoner aboard a British warship.   He  would
     enter  history  books because he had a young lawyer friend  named
     Francis Scott Key.
       Key, with President Madison's blessing, agreed to negotiate for
     the  release of his friend.   He went to Chesapeake Bay where the
     British  were massing a fleet for a combined land and sea assault
     on  Fort McHenry.   He was cordially received aboard the  English
     ship SURPRISE by Admiral Cochrane and General Ross.   The General
     agreed to release Dr.  Beans,  but not immediately.   Key and his
     party were to stay aboard the ship until the British "had reduced
     Fort McHenry to ashes."
       The British poured shells into the fort throughout the night of
     September 13, 1814.   A relentless barrage shook the countryside.
     The  Stars  and  Stripes did not yield.   It  continued  to  wave
     defiantly,  triumphantly.   "At dawn's early light"  on September
     14,  Key,  so  moved by what he had seen,  wrote on the back of a
     letter the words to the Star Spangled Banner.
       Later,  the  music  of  an old English song,  "To  Anacreon  in
     Heaven"  was adapted to his poem,  but it was not until 1931 that
     it was officially designated by Congress as our National Anthem.
     
                             FIFTEEN STRIPES
       The  flag Francis Scott Key saw over Fort McHenry was unique in
     several ways.  It was the largest of its time,  measuring 30 feet
     wide and 42 feet long and weighing about 200 pounds.
       The  Star  Spangled  Banner  had 15 stripes and  was  the  only
     official  flag of the United States to show more than 13 stripes.
     
     NAM VET Second Anniversary Edition                        Page 50
     Volume  2, Number  1                            November 11, 1989

     It  was created by the Congress in the second flag act of January
     12,  1794,  to  recognize  the admission of  Vermont  (1791)  and
     Kentucky (1792).  Each was given a star and a stripe.
       By 1817,  five more states had joined the Union and some people
     suggested  that five more stars and stripes be added to the flag.
     But  there  was serious objection.   "The stripes will become  so
     small as to be indistinguishable," some legislators observed.
       Debate  went on for almost two years until Congressman Wendover
     of  New  York  made a resolution:   go back to  the  13  original
     stripes,  but  add  a single star in the blue field for each  new
     state.  That proposal became the third flag act,  passed on April
     4,  1818.   Except for the exact arrangement of the stars,  which
     would  wait  almost  another century,  the course of  our  flag's
     design was set.
     
                        A SAILOR SIGHTS THE STARS
       One  of the great heroes of the War of 1812 was Captain  Samuel
     Chester Reid,  whose 90-man ship,  GENERAL ARMSTRONG,  repelled a
     squadron of three British ships with 2,000 men aboard.   When the
     battle  ended,  Reid's  crew had suffered  nine  casualties,  the
     British 250.
       Reid  was  lesser  known,  however,  for his  attempts  to  end
     confusion  over our flag's design.   He suggested,  for  example,
     specific patterns of stars to designate military,  government and
     private uses of the flag on both land and sea.  This idea was not
     accepted.   His  proposal to standardize our flag design was also
     ignored until President Taft made it fact in 1912.
       One  flag  Reid did design -  with the stars forming one  large
     star - was widely used, but was never officially adopted.
       His frustrations in trying to bring order out of chaos may have
     been  somewhat  eased when,  in 1818,  he presented to  President
     Monroe  a flag his wife had made.   The President in turn had  it
     flown over our nation's Capitol.
       Reid  lived  to see 14 new stars added to that flag before  his
     death in 1861.
     
                          THE LAST FOREIGN FLAG
       By 1836,  our flag had 25 stars,  and frontiersmen were pushing
     forward.   But  vast  areas  of the land to  their  west,  though
     settled largely by Americans, lay under the claim of Mexico.
       Texans won their independence from Mexico in 1836, and for nine
     years flew a Lone Star flag as an independent republic.   On July
     4, 1845, Texans voted to join the United States,  and on December
     29 of that year, the Lone Star became the state flag of Texas and
     Texas  the  28th  star of the Union.   Mexico,  which  had  never
     recognized the Republic of Texas,  was furious,  and declared war
     on the United States.
       Almost    simultaneously   Californians,    who   also   sought
     independence  from  Mexico,  staged their Bear Flag Revolt  -  so
     named  because  of the homemade flag they carried,  which bore  a
     white field, a single star,  the words "California Republic"  and
     the figure of a grizzly bear.   Their struggle became part of the
     U.S. war with Mexico.  Within six months,  Mexico capitulated and
     a year later, February 2,  1848,  signed the Treaty of Guadalupe-
     Hidalgo, giving up all land claims north of the Rio Grande.
       On  September 9,  1850,  California became the 31st star on the
     nation's  flag.   Now the young country had its flag flying  from
     the Atlantic on the east to the Pacific on the west.
     
     
     NAM VET Second Anniversary Edition                        Page 51
     Volume  2, Number  1                            November 11, 1989

                            THE BROTHERS PERRY
       The  flags  of  two brothers are displayed at  the  U.S.  Naval
     Academy.  One of the brothers, in war,  helped to make us a naval
     force;  the other,  in peace,  helped to make us an international
     trading power.
       Their acts were separated by 40 years.
       In  1813,  Oliver  Hazard Perry won one of the  most  brilliant
     naval victories of our history - the Battle of Lake Erie -  which
     marked  the  first time in history that an entire  English  naval
     squadron  was lost by surrender.   It was during this battle that
     Perry  sent  his now-famous message,  "We have met the enemy  and
     they are ours."
       Matthew  Perry's battle service was not as renowned as that  of
     his brother, but his tested abilities as seaman and diplomat made
     him President Fillmore's choice to carry a message to the Emperor
     of Japan requesting trade agreements.
       On July 8, 1853,  Matthew Perry entered the Bay of Yedo (Tokyo)
     and for the first time in its history,  the Stars and Stripes was
     unfurled in lands of the Far East.
       The  treaty  that followed not only established the U.S.  as  a
     world  maritime  force,  it also brought far-reaching changes  to
     Japan,  for  within  two generations that nation would rise  from
     feudalism to a status of world power.
     
                            THE SOUTHERN CROSS
       At  the  outbreak of Civil War in 1861,  the Confederacy  moved
     quickly to establish its own flag - a flag that would change many
     times during its short life.
       The first of the Confederate flags, created in 1861,  had three
     broad stripes - two red and one white.   The canton was blue with
     a circle of white stars, one for each state.  In battle, however,
     this  flag  looked so much like the Union's that it confused  the
     troops.
       Because of this confusion, Southern soldiers adopted the famous
     Southern Cross with 13 white stars along a blue diagonal cross on
     a red field.
       In  1863,  the battle cross became the canton on a white field.
     But this flag, when furled, looked like a white flag of truce.
       To overcome this, the Confederate Congress,  on March 4,  1865,
     added  a broad red vertical stripe to the outer half of the white
     field.
       But what of the Stars and Stripes during this period?
       When  the Southern states seceded,  angry Northerners  demanded
     that  the  rebel  stars  be removed  from  the  Union  flag,  but
     President  Lincoln would not allow it.   Throughout the war,  the
     Stars and Stripes flew in the North as it always had.
     
                                OLD GLORY
       "Stars  and Stripes"  and "Star Spangled Banner"  seem  natural
     enough  names  for our flag.   Yet a third and less obvious  "Old
     Glory", has become as popular.  This is, perhaps, because it came
     from the heart of a salty New England sailor.
       William Driver went to sea at 12 and at 18 became master of his
     own  vessel.   Before one of his voyages from  Salem,  Mass.,  in
     1831, his friends gave him a beautiful American flag.   As it was
     raised to the mast of his ship,  CHARLES DOGGETT,  he was visibly
     moved  and  cried out,  "I'll call her  Old  Glory,  boys...  Old
     Glory!"  His flag followed him throughout his seafaring days and,
     finally, to Nashville, Tenn., where he retired.  There he flew it
     
     NAM VET Second Anniversary Edition                        Page 52
     Volume  2, Number  1                            November 11, 1989

     on all holidays and on his birthday - even at the outbreak of the
     Civil War to show his belief in the Union.  But when the emotions
     of the war intensified,  he sewed Old Glory between the layers of
     a quilt to prevent its confiscation.  When the Union army entered
     the  city,  the Captain ripped open the quilt and brought out his
     flag.   He raised it atop the Nashville Capitol and led the Union
     troops in shouts of "Old Glory, Old Glory!"
       After the war that story of the Captain and his flag spread and
     captured the hearts of millions.
       The name the salty seaman gave her was anchored in history.
     
                                 31 WORDS
       The  Pledge  of Allegiance is a model of concise  English  that
     captures the meaning and spirit of our country in just 31 words.
       The  words  grew  out of a meeting of five  men  -  four  state
     superintendents of education and Francis Bellamy, editorial staff
     member   of  YOUTH'S  COMPANION.    They  sought  a  program   to
     commemorate the 400th anniversary of Columbus Day.
       In August of 1892, Bellamy wrote the pledge.   It was published
     in the YOUTH'S COMPANION, September 8, 1892.
       Unfortunately,   it   also  became  the  center  of  a   heated
     controversy that lasted almost 50 years.   The family of James B.
     Upham, who was also connected with the YOUTH'S COMPANION, claimed
     that  he  was  the real author of the pledge and  went  to  great
     lengths to establish that claim.
       In  1939,  the  United  States  Flag  Association  appointed  a
     committee  to  determine the authorship of  the  pledge.   "After
     weighing   all  evidence  they  decided  that  Mr.   Bellamy  was
     unquestionably the author."
       Except  for  three  changes,  the Pledge stands  as  originally
     penned.  In 1923, the words "the flag of the United States"  were
     substituted  for "my flag";  in 1924 the words "of America"  were
     added.  Finally, President Eisenhower,  in 1954,  added the words
     "under God."
     
                       THE TRUE FABRIC OF THE FLAG
       Though  the  salute  and pledge take place countless  times  in
     countless  classrooms,  no  single American school child  can  be
     forced to do either.
       For years,  state legislators and educators tried to make these
     acts  compulsory,  and  even passed laws and instituted rules  to
     that effect.  For a time, their actions were upheld by the United
     States Supreme Court.
       But then on June 14, 1943, the Supreme Court, in a 6 to 3 vote,
     reversed its earlier decisions.
       Among  the many statements written by the Court in handing down
     its decision was this by Justice Jackson:  "If there is any fixed
     star  in our constitutional constellation it is that no official,
     high or petty,  can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics,
     nationalism,  religion  or  other  matters of  opinion  or  force
     citizens to confess by word or act their faith thereto."
       In short,  those liberties for which the early colonists fought
     were the REAL substance of the flag.  Compulsory recitation was a
     denial  of  the Pledge itself.   It seems most fitting that  this
     ruling  came  when  the country itself was at  war  with  tyranny
     abroad.   While  other  banners were being used to bend  people's
     will to the wishes of a few, the Stars and Stripes was reaffirmed
     as the symbol of individual liberty.
     
     
     NAM VET Second Anniversary Edition                        Page 53
     Volume  2, Number  1                            November 11, 1989

                       A FLAG THAT RAISED A NATION
       Geographically,  Iwo  Jima  is  an unlikely dot of land  to  be
     immortalized.  Yet atop the island's Mount Surabachi was raised a
     Stars and Stripes that would speak as eloquently as any,  past or
     future,  of the valor of our fighting men and the price Americans
     are  willing  to pay to preserve the freedom and dignity  of  men
     everywhere.
       The  battle  of  Iwo was one of the fiercest  our  nation  ever
     fought.   Three  divisions of Marines were pitted against  23,000
     Japanese defenders.  The first objective was Surabachi, whose 550
     foot  height commanded the entire island.   It took four days  to
     conquer  that  summit.   When it was finally reached  an  unknown
     Marine scrambled up the slopes with the colors tied to a Japanese
     iron  pipe to signal others still fighting that this victory  had
     been  won.   AP  photographer,  Joe Rosenthal,  spotted  the  six
     Marines  raising  the  eight-foot flag and  took  the  now-famous
     photograph.
       The  fight  for Iwo Jima cost more than 4,000  American  lives,
     including  three  of the six men involved in the  Surabachi  flag
     raising.   Rosenthal's  photograph captured their valor and  love
     for the flag, and thereby the hearts and minds of America.
     
                            THE 30-SECOND FLAG
       Some time ago senators and congressmen, anxious to do something
     special  for  the groups before whom  they  spoke,  ceremoniously
     presented  a flag that had "flown over the Capitol of the  United
     States."  That practice gained popularity.
       In  1971,  27,659  such  flags were  presented;   in  1972,  an
     election year, more than 32,000.
       These  are  not  the same as the huge flag that flies  day  and
     night atop the giant staff above the Capitol.  They are instead 3
     x  5-foot  or 5 x 8-foot flags that are raised on three  smaller,
     nearby  poles.   Some have flown not more than 30  seconds.   But
     they are properly raised, lowered, folded, boxed and certified as
     having flown above the Capitol.
       As might be expected, requests are heaviest for flags that have
     flown on national holidays or special occasions.   Fourth of July
     and Flag Day lead in popularity.   Elections and Pearl Harbor are
     close.   Apollo missions also result in large numbers of requests
     for these flags.
       The cost?  While the people who carry out the flag raisings are
     on  the  Federal payroll,  the costs involved for the  flag,  the
     ceremony,  certification  and mailing are borne by the individual
     senators and congressmen, or by their constituents.
     
                        THE DILEMMA OF DESECRATION
       In the mid 1960`s, the flag was to face some of its most trying
     challenges.   Aroused  by both domestic and foreign issues,  some
     Americans  denounced,  burned,  defaced and subjected the flag to
     other acts of contempt.
       On  April  21,  1969,  the  Supreme Court held that  the  First
     Amendment's   free  speech  clause  forbids  punishing  Americans
     denouncing the flag in words.
       The  Court did not act,  however,  on the question of  physical
     desecration.  Here, the existing Federal laws and those of the 50
     states and the District of Columbia still apply.  These laws vary
     considerably  and  are  seldom enforced.   The Federal  Flag  Law
     carries  penalties of up to one year in prison and a maximum fine
     of  $1,000.   State laws have a wide range which range from minor
     
     NAM VET Second Anniversary Edition                        Page 54
     Volume  2, Number  1                            November 11, 1989

     penalties,  to  Texas',  which  can  lead  to  a  25-year  prison
     sentence.
       In  some  nations,  desecration  of  the flag  is  regarded  as
     treason.    But  Americans  hesitate  to  carry  out  punishment,
     believing with one Congressman who suggested that the foundations
     of  the  country are not so weak that they cannot  withstand  the
     burning  of  a  flag.   Instead  they respond in what  may  be  a
     peculiarly American pattern:  for every American who desecrates a
     flag, many others raise theirs higher.
     
                        A NEW LIFE FOR OLD GLORIES
       As  a child i England,  Amelia Bold Fowler showed a  remarkable
     skill  for embroidery.   She came to the U.S.,  married,  but was
     soon  widowed  and  faced  with supporting  two  small  children.
     Teaching embroidery was her answer.   She opened a studio in 1896
     - at a time when the practice of painting flags was giving way to
     embroidering them.
       Admiral Cole of the Naval Academy asked her to make a Stars and
     Stripes.  In five days it was done, and Amelia was established as
     a flag maker.
       One day at the Hall of Flags in Massachusetts, Amelia noted the
     deteriorating  condition  of  historic  flags  on  display.   She
     remembered  a  1000-year-old  tapestry she had  seen  in  perfect
     condition in Bayeux, France.  She went there, studied,  found the
     "secret", and developed a method of restoration for which she was
     granted a U.S. patent.
       Within  a  short  time,  she and a staff of more than  40  were
     continuously  engaged  in giving new life to the  great  military
     banners.   In  1914  she was asked to restore the  Star  Spangled
     Banner.   With  her 10 best craftswomen,  Amelia worked more than
     eight  weeks to restore the banner now hanging in the Smithsonian
     Institution.
       Since  Amelia's time,  better methods of preservation have been
     developed.  The method considered best today is the one developed
     in Sweden by Baron Cederstrom in the 1920's.
     
                            THE FINAL PATTERN
       It  would have appeared after 1818 that the design of the Stars
     and  Stripes had been resolved.   The fixing of the stripes at 13
     and  adding  a star for each new state,  adopted by  Congress  on
     April  4,  1818,  seemed  specific enough.   But not so  for  the
     ingenious and individualistic Americans.
       Flags  of all varieties continued to be flown,  even above  the
     Capitol itself.  Stars were arranged in rows, in circles,  as one
     large  star  with many stars within,  around an anchor  and  many
     other  patterns.   Some  showed seven white stripes and six  red;
     others the reverse.   Stars had five,  six and seven points.   In
     1837,  the  confusion  was  so great that  Holland  prompted  its
     representatives  to  ask precisely what the American flag  looked
     like  so  they  could  recognize  it  and  avoid  any  breach  of
     international etiquette.
       Despite  the  confusion,  it was not until 1912 -  with  Europe
     simmering  toward  war  -  that  it became  expedient  to  decide
     precisely  what our flag would look like.   On October 29,  1912,
     President Taft signed an executive order - No.  1637 -  detailing
     our flag design -  pattern and shape of stars,  number of red and
     white stripes,  ratio of length to width,  the relative sizes and
     position of all elements.  That order has become the basis of the
     specifications for the flag we know today.
     
     NAM VET Second Anniversary Edition                        Page 55
     Volume  2, Number  1                            November 11, 1989

     
                            MADE IN THE U.S.A.
       In  the almost 200 years since the first flag was made  there's
     been  a  curious  turnabout  that seems to  reflect  our  "Yankee
     ingenuity" and dedication to doing things better.
       During  Colonial  times no one in America had the  know-how  or
     machinery to produce flag bunting.  For almost 90 years, American
     flags were made of foreign bunting,  and were hand-stitched.   It
     was  not until February,  1866,  that an American-made flag  flew
     over the Capitol in Washington.
       Since that time countless flags of all sizes have been made and
     sold  in  America.    Each  holiday  or  special  occasion  finds
     Americans  flying their flags.   One of the oldest American  flag
     makers is reported to make more than 25,000,000 flags each year.
       But  it  is  not only the American flag that Yankee  looms  and
     machines  make.   Whereas two centuries ago the infant U.S.  went
     abroad  to  insure that its flags were "the finest that could  be
     made,"  today  the flags of more than 150 countries are "Made  in
     the U.S.A."
     
                          IN SEARCH OF THE STARS
       On Sunday afternoon,  July 20,  1969,  Apollo XI brought men to
     the surface of the moon.
       In  the time-honored tradition of explorers,  they carried with
     them the flag of their country.
       That  flag  is there now,  braced by a wire spring to  keep  it
     unfurled on the windless moon.
       There  will  be  no  legends  about  the  maker  of  the  flag.
     Manufacturers' names were deliberately removed.
       Nor  is  there any attempt to take a singular honor  or  derive
     special gain for that flag from this greatest of man's scientific
     achievements.  A simple plaque near it reads:
                     "Here men from the planet Earth
                     first set foot on the moon.
                     July 1969 A.D.
                     We came in peace for all mankind."
       Future  historians  may  wonder how it came to be that  one  of
     Earth's  youngest nations was able in less than 200 years to take
     man  from the saddle of a horse and start him on a journey to the
     stars.
       The  answer is in the stars of its flag -  each a story of  men
     seeking  to  be free and freely joining others to  create  "under
     God"  a  constellation  as  bright  and lasting  as  any  in  the
     firmament.
     
     
               STATES BY ORDER OF RATIFICATION OR ADMISSION
               Delaware . . . . . . . . . .  December 7, 1787
               Pennsylvania . . . . . . . .  December 12, 1787
               New Jersey . . . . . . . . .  December 18, 1787
               Georgia  . . . . . . . . . .  January 2, 1788
               Connecticut  . . . . . . . .  January 9, 1788
               Massachusetts  . . . . . . .  February 6, 1788
               Maryland . . . . . . . . . .  April 28, 1788
               South Carolina . . . . . . .  May 23, 1788
               New Hampshire  . . . . . . .  June 21, 1788
               Virginia . . . . . . . . . .  June 25, 1788
               New York . . . . . . . . . .  July 26, 1788
               North Carolina . . . . . . .  November 21, 1789
     
     NAM VET Second Anniversary Edition                        Page 56
     Volume  2, Number  1                            November 11, 1989

               Rhode Island . . . . . . . .  May 29, 1790
               Vermont  . . . . . . . . . .  March 4, 1791
               Kentucky . . . . . . . . . .  June 1, 1792
               Tennessee  . . . . . . . . .  June 1, 1796
               Ohio . . . . . . . . . . . .  March 1, 1803
               Louisiana  . . . . . . . . .  April 30, 1812
               Indiana  . . . . . . . . . .  December 11, 1816
               Mississippi  . . . . . . . .  December 10, 1817
               Illinois . . . . . . . . . .  December 3, 1818
               Alabama  . . . . . . . . . .  December 14, 1819
               Maine  . . . . . . . . . . .  March 15, 1820
               Missouri . . . . . . . . . .  August 10, 1821
               Arkansas . . . . . . . . . .  June 15, 1836
               Michigan . . . . . . . . . .  January 26, 1837
               Florida  . . . . . . . . . .  March 3, 1845
               Texas  . . . . . . . . . . .  December 29, 1845
               Iowa . . . . . . . . . . . .  December 28, 1846
               Wisconsin  . . . . . . . . .  May 29, 1848
               California . . . . . . . . .  September 9, 1850
               Minnesota  . . . . . . . . .  May 11, 1858
               Oregon . . . . . . . . . . .  February 14, 1859
               Kansas . . . . . . . . . . .  January 29, 1861
               West Virginia  . . . . . . .  June 20, 1863
               Nevada . . . . . . . . . . .  October 31, 1864
               Nebraska . . . . . . . . . .  March 1, 1867
               Colorado . . . . . . . . . .  August 1, 1876
               North Dakota . . . . . . . .  November 2, 1889
               South Dakota . . . . . . . .  November 2, 1889
               Montana  . . . . . . . . . .  November 8, 1889
               Washington . . . . . . . . .  November 11, 1889
               Idaho  . . . . . . . . . . .  July 3, 1890
               Wyoming  . . . . . . . . . .  July 10, 1890
               Utah . . . . . . . . . . . .  January 4, 1896
               Oklahoma . . . . . . . . . .  November 16, 1907
               New Mexico . . . . . . . . .  January 6, 1912
               Arizona  . . . . . . . . . .  February 14, 1912
               Alaska . . . . . . . . . . .  January 3, 1959
               Hawaii . . . . . . . . . . .  August 21, 1959
     




















     NAM VET Second Anniversary Edition                        Page 57
     Volume  2, Number  1                            November 11, 1989

                              WAR
     
                              By: Karen A. Winnett
                                  S.I.R.E.N. IS CALLING
                                  Sacramento, CA
                                  (916) 971-0589
      
     The dreams all come more gently now and tears fall only rare,
     as faded names go marching past, as ghosts with war I shared.
     Silent soldiers, battle red, who hardly knew my name,
     walking wounded, walking dead just barely now remain.
      
     That nightmare army, dressed in columns rowed,
     with names long lost, yet they became my soul!
     The screams of triumph and the hushed songs of pain,
     on sleepless nights, caress me now, a soft and silent rain.
      
     I wander to a dreaming place where once I feared to know,
     and night by night, a warrior lives, one pain less to go.
     The stench of death on killing grounds a long time far away,
     the sweet smell of death in quiet arms, also far misplaced.
     
     Midnight whispers, where has time gone and is this really peace,
     the pain slips away and yet I cry for those lost in the sleep.
     With the rise of each new sun, I retreat back to the rear,
     and with the fall of each new moon, less and less, I fear.
     
     A young Marine, with old combat eyes, leads me to the light,
     though I lost him, within my helpless arms, I hear him, Semper Fi!
     So much forgotten, so much remains, but the dreams now slip away,
     and more and more, I look towards now, as the ghosts stand at 
     parade.
      
     For we that fell and we that fought and we who dressed the wounds,
     the time has come to leave the fire , and return back to the womb.
     And somehow now, I start to grow and though tomorrow hides 
     unknown,
     the dreams come much more gently now and I think I am almost home!
     




















     NAM VET Second Anniversary Edition                        Page 58
     Volume  2, Number  1                            November 11, 1989

                            The "OLD GLORY" Story
                            By: Jim Hildwine
                            NAM VET's Federal Benefits Editor
                            Washington Zephyr BBS
                            (703) 620-5418
     
     To veterans througout American history, The Stars and Stripes has
     served as a symbol of their service, and as a continuing
     testimony that the service was worth-while.
     
     Since many flags of early America contained stripes in their
     design and several others had star devices, there are varying
     accounts of when and where the first Stars and Stripes was
     flown.  Flag history experts agree, however, that the first
     Stars and Stripes flag to have the general form we recogzize
     today did not appear unitl the summer of 1777, when the
     Continental Congress formally resolved "That the flag of the
     United States be 13 stripes, alternated red and white, and
     the union be 13 white stars in a field of blue representing
     a new constellation."
     
     Interestingly, the Congress did not specify the arrangement or
     shape of the stars, the direction of the stripes, or the
     relative size of the various components.  Consequenty, military
     units and civilian public alike flew a confusing array of local,
     state, and home-made interpretations of the congressional flag
     description.
     
     It was not until 1912 that the flag was finally assured a uniform
     appearance, when President Taft signed an executive order
     prescribing the relative size, shape and posting of the flag's
     components.
     
     A subject of almost as much debate as the shape and design of
     the flag has been the question of how and when to disply the Stars
     and Stripes.
     
     Since 1942, when a law was first enacted to govern actual display
     of the flag, the guiding statement has been that the flag should
     be flown on "days when weather permits."  The generally accepted
     interpretation was that the colors could be shown only between
     sunrise and sundown, and , even then, not during inclement
     weather.
     
     Growing seniment that "Old Glory" should be kept flying
     irrespective of darkness and foul weather culminated in 1976,
     when President Ford signed legislation providing that: "When a
     patriotic effect is desired, the flag may be displayed twenty-
     four hours a day if properly illuminated during hours of
     darkness."  The new law also permits the Stars and Stripes to
     remain flying through inclement weather when a flag of
     all-weather materials is used.
     
     In addition to its historical significance for permitting the
     national colors to remain aloft indefinitely for patriotic
     effect, the 1976 legislation may be remembered for giving to
     "Old Glory."  The new flag code contains the provision that:
     "The Flag represents a loving country and is itself considered
     a living thing."
     
     NAM VET Second Anniversary Edition                        Page 59
     Volume  2, Number  1                            November 11, 1989

     


























































     NAM VET Second Anniversary Edition                        Page 60
     Volume  2, Number  1                            November 11, 1989

                           A Different Battlefield
                           by G. Joseph Peck
                              NAM VETs Managing Editor
                              VETLink #1  Pittsfield, MA
                              (413) 443-6313
     
     A short while ago I thought I'd visit my old home town.
     "Bert" -- the 35-inch-plus smallmouth bass, was still
     reported to be in the pond I used to fish before I joined the
     service.
     
     Patches of snow dotted the mountainside near the pond and
     occasionally the sound of a moving automobile on the highway
     far below would disturb the silence.  Barren trees, somehow
     vaguely reminiscent of a faraway jungle, stood careful watch
     over the now-empty, century-and-a-half old, two-story
     farmhouse where I once lived.  Truly, this IS "America the
     Beautiful".
     
     The entire town still looked the same.  Even the new
     supermarket - built to replace the Country Store after it
     burned awhile ago - retained a familiar look.
     
     "Funny," I thought, "How the supermarket and I are somewhat
     alike:  older, yet new;  still a part of this Town.  We bring
     our experiences to town under an accepted, familiar covering
     and help it grow."
     
     The train of thought steered my thinking to the college I was
     attending, colleges I had read about, and colleges the news
     media had mentioned over the past few years.  Something had
     begun to disturb me.  In this solitude, this peace and
     beautiful quiet, could I find out what it might be?
     
     A huge, dark form moved through the waters below me, and the
     hint of a problem began to crystallize into recognizable
     form.
     
     Proud and patriotic Patrick Henry once said: "Give me liberty
     or give me death!"  Over the last few years, from campus to
     campus across this great nation of ours, lurking between
     studies of calculus, psychology, and business management, and
     concealed in the midst of classes in Political Science and
     Saturday night parties, hidden - yet clearly evident - in the
     nonexistent studies of Military Strategy and Intelligent
     Counterinsurgency, a new, not-too-cryptic version of his
     statement has filtered the air and can be faintly heard with
     an almost-cowardly, almost-un-American sound:  "Give me
     liberty and all the things that loyalty and freedom can buy;
     give me a chance to be all that I can be, but DON'T, in any
     way, ask me to physically defend this country's precious
     principles, and please, DON'T give me death.!
     
     For example . . . A few months ago, startling many students
     (and sending one hurriedly home to protect his family), a
     military medevac helicopter slowly descended upon a local
     college campus while, almost simultaneously, representatives
     of the U.S. Military began arriving in jeeps, a semitrailer,
     and an ambulance with a big red cross painted on the side of
     
     NAM VET Second Anniversary Edition                        Page 61
     Volume  2, Number  1                            November 11, 1989

     it.  Armed Forces Open House day was about to begin - but not
     without conflict!
     
     Across the open-air quad in which the event was being held,
     with a fervor and actions that would have been admirable on
     any battlefield, many members of the campus group of
     Conscientious Objectors (C.O.'s) were busy corralling
     passersby, handing them a printed page, and trying to impress
     upon them their feelings that involvement in any form with
     the present U.S. Military is wrong (Imagine, if you will,
     what would have happened had there been a "counter-Open
     House" presented by the C.O.'s and, during the event,
     representatives from the various military branches actively
     attempted to recruit new personnel for their services.)
     
     "Where my feelings THEN, feelings of anger?  Did I want to
     forcibly remove the C.O.'s from the Armed Forces Open House?"
     I thought, "Have I learned anything from our country's
     involvement with 'Nam?  Do these people, many of whom haven't
     even SEEN a rifle - let alone used it to defend themselves,
     have ANY idea of the price of freedom?"
     
     The thoughts of moments past came flooding back into my mind:
     "...older - yet new;  still a part of this ...   We bring our
     experiences... under an accepted, familiar covering and help
     it grow."
     
     There on a mountaintop in my old home town, fishing line
     vanishing into the dark-green pond world of the "Bert's" and
     others like him, I came to realize that, for the American
     soldier, the battle for Liberty and Freedom isn't just in
     another country, isn't always a battle conducted with
     physically damaging weapons.  The "battlefield" and "weapons"
Xref: sparky soc.veterans:799 soc.history:6665 soc.men:13701 soc.women:14082 alt.war:1566