On March 1, The Patriot Post posted an article about some new rules put in place recently by an official memorandum from Chris Meagher, assistant to the secretary of defense for public affairs.
The article reports:
The latest evidence of how abjectly tone-deaf this administration is would be the official memorandum from Chris Meagher, assistant to the secretary of defense for public affairs, barring uniformed personnel from participating in the familiar patriotic flag displays at major sporting events and other high-profile public venues. This would include on-the-field “unfurling, holding, and/or carrying of giant horizontal U.S. flags” during the playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” It further decrees that “DoD jump teams may not incorporate [it] in their public demonstrations if the flag cannot be caught reliably and handled respectfully by ground personnel during landings.”
For the record, the display of huge flags on sporting fields, and those carried by Navy SEAL Leap Frogs and Army Golden Knights parachute teams, always include ground crews to respectfully intercept our flag in order that it not touch the ground — though that presents a challenge sometimes.
A Pentagon spokesperson, Cmdr. Nicole Schwegman, confirmed that even though “many, including service members, find these events moving and patriotic,” they are now forbidden.
In fact, Title 4 of the United States Code, also known as the Flag Code, does specify that “the flag should never be carried flat or horizontally, but always aloft and free.” That section also states that “the flag should never touch anything beneath it, such as the ground.”
However, does it strike you as odd that leftist Democrat Party appointees, many of whom view our flag as a symbol of division and oppression, are suddenly concerned that it be treated with the utmost respect?
Call me skeptical.
We obviously need new leadership in our military.