Respect
Scott Burenheide
Friday, July 13, 2007
OVER THE PAST YEARS, I have attended just about every parade that has traveled down the streets of Emporia.
Every one of them took many dedicated people and hours of organization to make them as spectacular as they are (I commend you for a job well done).
One thing that has always stood out to me was that our parades have never had a shortage of color guards. What a wonderful sight to see our nation’s colors on parade. I am a retired soldier of 20 years and two wars zones, and to this day my heart fills with joy and my eyes tear up every time that our nation’s flag is on parade and when our national anthem is played.
I actually learned at a very young age about our flag and how to show my respect for it and what it stands for.
This is the same flag that is draped over the coffins of our fallen heroes, not just military but firefighters and law enforcement as well.
We should all feel the pride that belonging to a free nation should bring, or have enough respect for our fallen heroes to respect the flag that they fought and died for.
So I pose this question to the citizens of Emporia: Why is it, then, that so few of you stand and place your hand over your heart while the color guard passes in front of you?
Why is it that the men of our community do not remove their hats?
Do you need a bull horn traveling in front of the parade telling you to rise and remove your hats?
So I ask you all, when you attend the next parade that travels down the streets of our fine city, please show your respect to our flag.