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.

Ten bits of trivia about the NASA Space program you might not know about. I have highlighted eight and nine, but all ten are interesting.

10 Things You Didn’t Know About Space Exploration – US News and World Report
8. Although it may appear to be flying backward, the flag on the shuttle is positioned so as to appear as though it’s flying alongside the ship; this is done to be in accordance with the regulation for displaying the U.S. flag on a national vehicle so that the star field is positioned at the front of the vessel (or the nose cone end of the shuttle).

9. Flying American flags to space originated with the flight of the first American astronaut, Alan Shepard, in 1961. Elementary students from a Cocoa Beach, Fla., school purchased the flag for Shepard to carry onboard; the flag was rolled up and placed between cables behind Shepard’s head inside his Freedom 7 Mercury spacecraft. Onetime NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin said, “The American flags are a patriotic symbol of our strength and solidarity and our nation’s resolve to prevail.”

Sixty-two years has passed since Corporal Poulsen brought home a small prize from WWII. That prize, a Japanese flag, is now back with its original family. A nice story.

Utah family returns WWII flag taken from fallen soldier to Japan – ABC4.com
U.S. Marine Corporal Ted Poulsen returned from World War II with honor and a few treasures to remind him of the courageous battles he fought. One of those items was a flag, found near the body of a brave Japanese officer. Now 62-years later and through a series of miracles, that flag has been returned to the Japanese family who lost its loved one so long ago.

POW/MIA Recognition Day is a day for flying the POW/MIA flag with the American flag. Bill Reynolds succeeded in encourging the City of Santa Clarita to fly that flag above City Hall today. Good job, Bill.

The Signal: News for Santa Clarita Valley, California
Another flag is flying high at City Hall today – a flag that honors prisoners of war and service men and women still missing in action.

The flag’s formal name is the National League of Families’ POW/MIA and it was raised today in support of National POW/MIA Recognition Day across the United States.

Bill Reynolds of Santa Clarita served in Vietnam with the 9th Infantry Division.

He approached City Hall officials about flying the flag after learning of the observance from other veterans online.

Congress has mandated the flying of the National League of Families’ POW/MIA flag on Sept. 21 and on five other days annually, including: Armed Forces Day, Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day and Veterans Day.

Reynolds said he’s happy just to see it flying in Santa Clarita.

Buzz Aldrin was prepared to conduct a Communion Service from the moon in 1969, but was prevented because of the possible lawsuits. I didn’t hear about this until yesterday when I read this story. Now you can own a piece of history, if you are the winning bidder.

News 8 Austin | 24 Hour Local News | TOP STORIES | Aldrin’s notes on handwritten card to be auctioned
DALLAS — A space-related auction by a Dallas company will include a handwritten note containing a Bible verse, but on a card that made it to the moon.

Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin in 1969 had planned to broadcast a lunar Holy Communion service.

But Aldrin was asked not to read the verse publicly because of a legal challenge NASA faced from famed atheist Madalyn Murray O’Hair.

He instead recited the verse during a private service with a communion kit from his church, Webster Presbyterian.

“Kill them so they won’t be trouble,” is the handwritten text on this Al-Qaeda flag now residing in the U.S. Military Museum. A good place for such a notorious flag.

AFP: Al-Qaeda flag featured at US military museum
TRIANGLE, United States AFP — A banner once displayed in front of an abandoned Al-Qaeda safehouse in Iraq has found a new home at a US military museum.

The three-meter-long 10-foot-long black flag, recovered by a battalion of marines in Fallujah in November 2004, is now on display at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle, Virginia.

SGT Brandon W. Page is in Iraq, serving in the Army, and wrote this Letter to the Editor, and after reading it, you will see why I had to share it with you today.

Marion Daily Republican Online – News
If everyone had the opportunity to see how a third world country lives, you would realize how fortunate we are in America. I challenge you to do your part in making our country a better place. Send a letter to a random soldier serving in Iraq. Show them how much you appreciate them for what they do. Tell a spouse of a soldier or even a family whose soldier has paid the ultimate sacrifice, “Thank you for your sacrifice.” How many of you have an American flag flying high? Everyone should exercise their right to fly our flag.

I also can’t believe how much work is involved in painting this entire building by hand. I guess that’s why is won’t be finished until 2009.

Big NASA Building Gets Big Facelift – News

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A huge renovation project befitting one of the world’s biggest buildings is under way at the Kennedy Space Center.

The Vehicle Assembly Building is one of Central Florida’s best-known landmarks and it is getting a facelift, WESH 2 News space expert Dan Billow reported.

The VAB is 52 stories tall and one of the five largest buildings in the world. The big American flag on its side is about 20,000 square feet. Ten average-size houses could be put on the flag alone.

The repainting job is being done all by hand.

… It’s an incredibly big job. The building’s exterior covers 1.1 million square feet. It’ll soak up 6,000 gallons of paint. To put it in perspective, it usually takes about half a gallon to paint a living room.

The blue field on the giant American flag is the size of a basketball court. Each stripe is as wide as a highway lane — big enough to accommodate an 18-wheeler.