Trouble in Cedar Key -Display the Flag

This is a week to fly the Flag. If you had the flag displayed for Election Day, November 6, keep it flying. The Marine Corps birthday is Saturday, November 10. Veterans Day is Sunday, November 11. Display the flag through Veterans Day at the least. Those three days are important reminders.

As I was growing up, most of the adult men in the family had been or were serving in the military forces. Most of them came back from serving abroad. Many had severe injuries. Some died overseas. To serve in the military was an honor as well as an obligation. Citizens expected to serve, to take part in combat, to eventually come home as seasoned veterans.

In my family, the men served in three major wars. The women worked in the factories while raising families. Men in uniform were thanked for their service. They were praised by families, friends and communities and governments. They were considered to be heroes. And they truly were.

Veterans Day was a day of parades and for family celebrations, picnics, large meals. Men marched, bands played, and twenty-one gun salutes were fired over graves of fallen heroes. I remember well the parades, the kids with sticks carried over shoulders marching along the sidewalks.

Veterans Days were times of reverence. The parades usually ended at the cemetery, bands falling silent, marching slowly to muffled drum cadence, to the grave of a fallen soldier, to silence, to a gun salute. Then somber thoughts and silent slow walks back to town.

And the festivities returned, and celebrations resumed...

I bet you didn`t know that the day before Veterans Day is the birthday of the United States Marines Corps. The Corps is a year older than the United States of America. A good friend of ours was a Master Sergeant in the Corps. He served a tour of duty in Korea and two tours in Vietnam. He retired from the Marines and served as a civilian in the military at a fort in Atlanta.

Master Sergeant Harvey D. Fletcher, USMC, retired, hung out at a watering hole/restaurant, Manual`s Tavern in Atlanta. His stripes were displayed on the wall at Manuals. He was an author and a poet of some renowned. He wrote a book of poetry, "Visions of Nam" that, over the years, extended to four volumes.

His poems were written in tonka and haiku, poetic rhythms he learned during his service days. His style used no punctuation other than spacing for effect. His writings were not political, except that "jane" was in lower case and "Charley" had a capital C. Anne and I have the complete set of four autographed volumes.

"Sarge," "Harvey D." was delightful. He was intensely dedicated to U.S. Veterans. He took a visit every year to Washington, D.C. for the Marine Corps Birthday and Veterans Day.

Twice he used the ceremonial sword to cut the cake at the birthday celebration. The first time, he was the youngest Marine present. The second time, some decades later, he was the oldest Marine at the party. What an honor. And all his trips to D.C. through the years were to honor Veterans.

Veterans have developed the Fisher Houses to help those disabled. Anne and I contribute to the Fisher House in Gainesville. Not only do we honor living veterans, we admire them, thank them and consider them our modern day heroes.

So this weekend, keep your flags flying and thank your veteran neighbors for their service to our great country.

You can Email "Trouble In Cedar Key" at:

tnckgebe@yahoo.com