Archbishop's web site Denver Catholic Register Parishes Catholic Pastoral Center
July 4, 2001
Salute as the flag goes by July 4
Independence Day reflections on the cost of freedom
By retired Navy Cmdr. Frank Evans
Across the nation on this July Fourth, in small rural towns in mid-America to major cities in this great land, the sounds of marching bands, parades and patriotic speeches will generate enthusiasm and pride within the young and old who welcome this day.
And while Independence Day will bring about family outings and at night, firework displays at baseball stadiums and local parks, the true remembrance of most July Fourth events takes place when the American flag goes by, followed by the marching of America's most exclusive fraternity of men and women — our veterans.
For many of our youth, the true meaning of the American flag or knowledge of those veterans of a different time has been lost, due to one reason or another. Maybe it's time to share with our computer generation, "What has our symbol cost?"
To paraphrase an essay I once read about this subject, I have always answered that question in terms of dollars and cents, but that never reflects the real price that many Americans — too many Americans — have paid for our flag.
I believe the answer could be found only if it were possible to go back many years — to many wars and bloodstained battlefields — and ask the crippled, the blind, the dying, and the dead, "How much did our flag cost you?"
The patriots at the Boston Tea Party, the Minutemen at Concord, frost-bitten soldiers at Valley Forge, the weary and hungry fighting at Gettysburg. Ask all the great presidents, generals and admirals.
Ask the heroes at Chateau Thierry and Verdun, the gallant sailors buried on the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor, the Marines buried at Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima. Ask those who stormed ashore at Omaha Beach, advanced on Pork Chop Hill, and fought in the bunker complex in War Zone "C" in Southeast Asia.
We could probably find the answer right here in the United States. We could visit numerous veterans' hospitals and ask thousands of disabled veterans who lie on their sick beds. We could ask them, but I don't think we would need to. We would surely see the price they paid for our flag.
We might be able to find the answer right in our hometown, perhaps on the street where we live. We could ask the Gold Star mothers who lost their only sons, the wives who lost their husbands, the children who lost their fathers or perhaps their brothers, and we could ask all those who lost their sweethearts.
I am sure they would say they paid for our flag with loneliness and sorrow, heartaches and tears, sacrifice and suffering, heartbreak and despair.
Every American should realize what our flag symbolizes. The white and red symbolize the purity of purpose for which our comrades shed their blood. The white stars in the field of blue symbolize that the heights of pure democracy can reach to the very stars in the heavens.
It doesn't matter what our flag is made of — a flimsy piece of printed cotton or the most beautiful silk — it is the precious symbol we all work and live for and for which, someday, some of us may die. It is a symbol of a free nation, of free people, true to the faiths of the past and dedicated to the principles of justice, freedom and democracy.
So when the flag passes you by this July Fourth, take a moment to reflect on what it really means. And just maybe, stand at attention and render a sharp salute.
Frank Evans is on staff at Holy Family High School.
Contact Us
