Dear editor,
With Memorial Day right around the corner on Monday, May 26th, as we honor and mourn military personnel who gave their lives serving this great country and made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom, I researched flag etiquette for the somber occasion to ensure my home shows the proper respect.
According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the flag should be flown at half-staff on Memorial Day from sunrise until noon, and then raised briskly to the top of the staff until sunset. This practice serves to honor the nation’s fallen heroes and to symbolize our resolve to carry on.
It can be difficult to display a flag on your home or porch at half-staff, but there is a workaround. If you are unable to lower your flag, you can display it with a black mourning ribbon to acknowledge the significance of the day. The mourning ribbon should be approximately the same length as the flag itself and no wider than 10% of the flag’s width.
Final thoughts as we head into this holiday, please remember these wise words from Ronald Reagan: “The United States and the freedom for which it stands, the freedom for which they died, must endure and prosper. Their lives remind us that freedom is not bought cheaply. It has a cost; it imposes a burden. And just as they whom we commemorate were willing to sacrifice, so too must we — in a less final, less heroic way — be willing to give of ourselves.”
Let’s all make Memorial Day meaningful, not just for the weekend but throughout the year.
Sincerely, Jennifer Ray, Putnam County