This space is usually reserved for my column. Excuse me this time if I turn it into a rant.

Maybe it was the stories my daddy told me of standing on a ridge in Italy to count the bombers returning from their mission over Germany, and how sometimes two-thirds of them did not come back. Maybe it was the flag draped coffins coming back from Vietnam, or the names of my friends being engraved on that black wall in Washington, D. C. Maybe it’s simply because I wore the uniform of those who serve under it. Whatever the reason, I’m getting a little out of sorts with the way the flag is taken for granted. I’m not talking about the nation. I’m not talking about the state. I’m talking about this county, this city.

The flag of the United States is not some architectural accoutrement. The flag is not some colorful piece of colored fabric to be run up a pole and forgotten. The flag is the representation of a nation. And flags flying forgotten before a place of business, a government building, or a private residence reflect in the attention paid them the reverence the occupants of those places have for the nation.

Some of those who scream the loudest about demonstrators burning the flag are often the very ones who have a tattered or faded flag in front of their building. They are the ones who flag their flag with complete disregard for the proper and prescribed manner in which it should be flown.

Over the last few years, we have been asked by our President, or our Governor, to lower our flags to half mast as a sign of our nation’s mourning. Each time, including the order to lower the flag in memory of those killed at Virginia Tech last week, the number of businesses and government agencies in this county who have either not cared, not known, or were too lazy has astounded me. A quick drive last week through downtown found some government buildings with the flag lowered and some flying at the top of the pole. Driving down the same street and along highways 53 and 41 found most of the major mills and businesses of our town and county flying the colors as though no tragedy had occurred.

Over the last few years I have noticed the vast majority of our businesses pay no attention to the care and upkeep of the flag they fly in front. And there appears to be no coordinated effort on the part of governments to coordinate the proper display of the colors. One government building will be in compliance and another not. In addition to not raising and lowering the flag as ordered in times of mourning, many flags are tattered and faded.

A pre-teen is capable of doing an internet search to find the rules and regulations for displaying the flag of our nation. There’s no excuse for not paying attention to this. Businesses and government agencies should have someone assigned to determine daily if the flag is displayed properly. When the flag is to be lowered someone in organizations with more than one location should notify all. When in doubt call the National Guard Armory. Or, here’s a hint, when the flag at the Post Office is at half mast, yours should be too.

If you’re going to fly the flag, fly it with respect.