A Veteran Who Has Earned the Right to Display Old Glory

Many of you have been following the dispute between a 90 year old Medal of Honor recipient and his homeowners association about flying the American flag. If you haven’t, you can read about it in the Richmond Times Dispatch here.

Col. Van T. Barfoot, a resident of Richmond, Virginia, is a veteran of World War II, Korea, and Vietnam who begins his day by raising the flag in his front yard. This seems simple enough, a man who has sacrificed so much raising the flag he risked his life to defend around the world, yet the dispute continued.

In response, Congressman Buck McKeon (CA-25) of the Armed Services Committee and I introduced a resolution to ensure that ANY of the 72 Congressional Medal of Honor winners can fly the American flag outside their homes at any time. Interestingly, minutes later the homeowners association announced that they would let him proceed.

It’s a sad state of affairs when a man – a literal hero – who clearly has earned the right to proudly display our flag is banned from doing so. Commonsense should prevail in a situation like this one. Thankfully, the situation has been resolved. I salute Col. Van T. Barfoot, his commitment to this country and every veteran and active member of our military that fights for our freedom, liberty and democracy. And may they all fly the flag with pride should they choose – they have certainly earned that right.