United States Flag Code Amendment Veteran Grave Flags

Should we be able to display a grave flag, like this, at a veteran’s grave?

If your answer is YES, then keep watching this video.

Someone in Fort Myers felt strongly flags were not allowed at veteran graves except during Memorial Day weekend. So:
• They removed our flags.
• They boxed them up,
• They held them hostage for two and a half months,
• And they finally gave them back to me this week.

You see this empty PVC flag holder? There are now 900 empty flag holders just like it throughout the City of Fort Myers Cemetery.

Now, it just looks sad and tired again.

I’m Trae Zipperer, Founder of By Memorial Day.

There should be no questions about displaying the flag at veteran graves.

Therefore, I propose the following Amendment to the United States Flag Code:

To Section 6 of the United States Flag Code, add a Sub-section:

(h) The flag, 8” x 12” in size, also known as a “grave flag” or “cemetery flag,” may be displayed at the grave of a veteran 24 hours a day 365 days a year with or without illumination during the hours of darkness.

I gotta tell ya, this place looked beautiful after volunteers cleaned all the veteran grave markers, installed flag holders, and placed nearly 1,000 grave flags.

Allow me to make a case for adoption of this proposed Amendment to the United States Flag Code:

1) The United States Flag Code does not address the issue of flags at veteran graves.
a. It doesn’t state you can’t display the flag at a veteran’s grave.
b. But, it doesn’t state you can display the flag at a veteran’s grave.
2) There exists a rule in the Flag Code whereby the flag displayed on buildings or flagpoles must be properly illuminated during the hours of darkness.
a. A veteran’s grave is neither a building, nor a flagpole.
3) In National Cemeteries, it is immediately obvious all headstones, identical in shape and stone type, mark the graves of veterans or spouses of veterans.
4) In private and municipal cemeteries, it’s not immediately apparent which graves contain veterans.
5) Internally published guidelines within the National Cemetery Administration establish the standard grave flag size at 8” x 12” on a 24” long stick.
6) Precedence has been established at National Cemeteries where, for countless years, individuals and groups have been allowed to display grave flags at veteran graves 24 hours a day without illumination during the hours of darkness.
7) We deliver our American military veteran heroes to their final resting places in flag-draped coffins.

From the July 12, 1951 edition of the Fort Myers News-Press:
• the first Lee County boy to lose his life in the Korean fighting. He was Private First Class James Crews, 20, of Estero, who was killed in action.
• Beneath the canopy which shaded the flag-draped grave, the soldier’s sobbing mother sat with bowed head.
• The flags of the color guard hanging limply,
• From the coffin, the flag was raised and folded.
• The sergeant presented the folded flag to the soldier’s parents.

8) Veterans stand at attention and render a military salute to the Flag during the:
a. Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
b. National Anthem.
c. Hoisting the Flag up a flagpole.
d. Lowering the Flag down a flagpole.
e. Passing of the Flag. For example, in a parade or Color Guard procession.
9) The flag displayed at a veteran’s grave indicates a grateful nation.
10) The flag displayed at a veteran’s grave instills national pride and patriotism in future generations of Americans.

If someone is willing to donate a few dollars and take the time to keep a flag proudly flying at a veteran’s grave, I say give them permission in the United States Flag Code.

Let me show you the condition of veteran graves in Fort Myers Cemetery last Veterans Day.

Examples of dirty veteran headstones.

Over a 7-month period, by Memorial Day, volunteers helped me clean all the veteran grave markers here in Fort Myers.

Video of Headstone Cleaning Event at the segregated African American cemetery, Woodlawn Cemetery, in the City of Fort Myers, FL.

You can help support our efforts to display flags at veteran graves in private and municipal cemeteries by:
• SHARING this video.
o with your friends,
o your Congressman,
o your Senators,
o and the President.

To learn more about what’s happened to our veteran graves:
• visit ByMemorialDay.com,
• Like us on Facebook,
• Subscribe to us on YouTube

Видео United States Flag Code Amendment Veteran Grave Flags канала Honor Your DNA