Well, I am again wondering what are they thinking because they are re-installing the hydrant in the dog park. This is wrong on so many levels I can’t begin to address it in an introduction to a news story. Suffice it to say, it violates the U.S. Flag Code in many, many ways.

Flag Hydrant Reinstalled In Oregon Dog Park | Itchmo: News For Dogs & Cats
Earlier this week, an American flag-painted fire hydrant was removed from an Oregon dog park due to complaints from local residents that dogs would urinate on the hydrant. Now, the fire hydrant is back in the dog park and has been reinstalled.

After the hydrant was removed, the park department received many responses from dog owners and war veterans supporting the fire hydrant, which is a tribute to Hondo, a police dog killed in the line of duty. They wrote that the hydrant does not disrespect Hondo, the US flag or K-9 officers.

Earning the rank of Eagle Scout is rare, so I don’t get the chance often enough to highlight a young man receiving the award. The ranks of Boy Scouts are only a portion of the population and only 2% of all Scouts attain the rank of Eagle. It is hard earned and a high honor.

Achieves Scouting’s Highest Honor
New York State Senator Kemp Hannon (R-6th S.D.) recently presented a New York State flag to Ian Hermann of Levittown for achieving Scouting’s ultimate achievement: the rank of Eagle Scout.

For Ian’s Eagle project, he grouped and nested boxes together in his community for American Kestrels and Screech Owls, which eat rodents and are an ecological source of reducing the rodent population. The project also assisted the American Kestrel which are on the endangered species list. Pictured, from left, are Senator Hannon,Ian Hermann, Jody Hermann and Arthur Hermann.

Bataan survivor Gautier beat the odds and lived a long life

SunHerald.com : Gautier endured Bataan, and lived to write about it
OCEAN SPRINGS –For three and a half years as a prisoner of war and survivor of the Bataan Death March, Msgt. James Donovan Gautier kept an American flag hidden on his body. When his captors randomly searched him, he’d sometimes stash the handkerchief-sized flag in his mouth. When he was finally freed, weighing only 96 pounds, Donovan returned with the flag; it now rests on the U.S.S. Bataan.

Gautier, of Ocean Springs, died Sept. 28. He was 88 years old.

Gautier lied about his age to enlist in the Army Air Corps, a predecessor of the United States Air Force. He was 17. In transport to POW camps, he and fellow soldiers were packed so tightly that when someone died, they couldn’t fall over, said daughter Diane Gandy.

Shuttle Astronaut presents special gift to University of Colorado

CU astronaut returns Buffs flag : CU News : Boulder Daily Camera
NASA astronaut Steve Swanson packed special mementos for his mission to space this past summer — a family wedding ring, his son’s Lego astronaut and a black-and-gold University of Colorado flag.

After spending 336 hours in space and making 222 orbits on the space shuttle Atlantis, the CU flag was delivered back to the Boulder campus Tuesday by Swanson, a CU alumnus.

“I want to give something back to your school,” Swanson told Chancellor Bud Peterson as he handed over the 3-foot-by-5-foot nylon CU flag.

“We’ll fly it proudly,” Peterson said.

Veterans, their families and friends gather each year to celebrate the lives of the dead and the survivors of the Bataan Death March. This year, seven survivors were at the ceremony in Santa Fe. A similar ceremony takes place in Albuquerque where there is also a memorial. The survivors participate in this ceremony in the hope that the rest of us will not forget what happened to them.

On April 9, 1942, between 70,000 and 75,000 Filipino and American soldiers surrendered and were taken captive by the invading Japanese forces at the southern end of the Bataan Peninsula. The Japanese were surprised and completely unprepared for the large number of prisoners—they expected no more than one third the number.

Bataan Death march

The next day on April 10—65 years ago today—the Japanese began a forced march of the already starving and weakened men 63 miles due north to a prison camp. Only 54,000 men reached the camp. The U.S. soldiers, variously numbered between 1200 and 1800 came mostly from the New Mexico National Guard.

In 1945, Congress declared April 9 to be Bataan Memorial Day. Shortly after, at the flagpole and plaque outside the New Mexico state office building designated as the Bataan Memorial Building, vets inaugurated this unusual flag ceremony.

I can’t tell you the story as well as these people, so please follow the links, and if you are ever in Santa Fe and Albuquerque, be sure to visit these memorials. There is a brief video link at the Albuquerque site, and this link is news video from station KRQE (CBS Channel 13) in Albuquerque.

Related Links:
Battle of Bataan
Beyond Courage Book