In doing so, our service members are projecting the values for which we stand. During the battle for the Japanese volcanic atoll, nearly one-third of the Marines fighting became casualties. The raising of that flag lifted both the spirits of the fighting Corps on that island as well as those of the entire Nation. One understands our banner's symbolic power while visiting the Vietnam Memorial Wall. Flags adorn these special grounds as family and friends use the colors to express their heartfelt emotions.
Similar gestures are familiar sites in all of our National cemeteries.
In our history, more than 1 million American men and women have died fighting for this Nation. If these now-silent defenders of America's future have taught us anything, it is that because of the men and women who were willing to place their lives on the line in the defense of our Nation, the Flag remains a symbol worth defending. The Flag's desecration is an affront to both their memories and to their surviving families. Such treatment of Old Glory is unacceptable. Let us teach all generations of Americans the significance of our Flag, and that its desecration should not be protected by false claims of protection under freedom of speech.