Flags offered to Bay residents

Seldom in history have so many given so much for human rights and freedom represented by a piece of cloth.

During the War for Independence, patriots sacrificed their fortunes, their homes, their sons and daughters and even their own lives for a country yet to be formed and represented by a flag.

One hundred years later, thousands upon thousands of troops fought and died under a flag so that this country, as Abraham Lincoln said, "shall have a new birth of freedom."

Another 100 years later, Americans spearheaded a military drive halfway around the world that defeated a dictatorship of unimaginable horror, to protect their country. An American flag was worn as a shoulder patch.

Today, from dense Southeast Asian jungles to Far-East deserts of almost intolerable heat, Old Glory again symbolizes Americans' almost insatiable appetite and zealot-like protection of our flag.

On the home front, stories abound of patriotic veterans and civilians fighting against almost overwhelming odds to protect 50 white stars on a blue background with 13 red-and-white stripes.

This Memorial Day, honor these people and this country by flying a flag.  

If you are a Bay resident with limited abilities or funds, a team of three Bay Village civic organizations – American Legion Post 385, Bay Village Kiwanis and Martha Devotion Huntington Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution – will help you show your pride in America.

A 3-by-5-foot outdoor American flag, flag pole and bracket can be installed at your home at ground level. (Homeowner assumes all responsibility for the flag bracket's installation location.) The flag, brackets and labor are completely free. All parts are made in America!

To have a flag set installed at your home, call 440-871-7680 or email deb@spfutures.com

Requests will be taken while supply lasts; first come, first served.