FLAG: Long may it wave

In response to U.S. Navy Veterans Gerald and Jeanne Bauerle: They should be commended and thanked for their honorable service in defending that very flag (whose value is being challenged to this day) to which they spoke on July 2.

Being from military veteran families, my husband and I must say that only a few words need to be said. To honor you (and our much loved honorably discharged fathers) we, too, presented Old Glory upside down in display of a distress signal on July 4, and returned her to her correct position on Monday, July 7. We, too, call out to others to stand united, for “United we stand, divided we fall.”

My husband and I love this land, and cherish our freedoms for which you, your wife, our fathers and their fathers fought. Let them not die in vain!

We ALL should be on our knees. God bless America, for you are the only one who can bless us and keep us.

God bless America, land that I love, stand beside her and guide her though the night with the light from above … over the mountains, through the prairie, to the ocean white with foam; God bless America, my home sweet home, God … Join in with us lest we all forget this beloved song! (No longer allowed, it’s already rarely heard.)

JANINE and BOB LILJA

Athol