To show respect, lower flag to half-staff on Memorial Day morning

SHARE To show respect, lower flag to half-staff on Memorial Day morning
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Flags should be at half-staff on Memorial Day. | Jean Lachat/Sun-Times file

I and others in my family are military, always lowering our flags to half-staff at sunrise at 5:19 a.m. on Memorial Day, and raising it back up to the top again at noon. We do so out of respect to those who have fallen protecting us. That is what Memorial Day is all about. Not just a day off from work with pay for grilling food and wearing swimwear for the start of summer.

When I resided in Hickory Hills, I took it upon my self to lower Old Glory at the Veterans Memorial next to City Hall for years. Now I reside in Marian Village in Homer Glen. Its the same old story, but no one wants to get up to lower our flag.

I implore each of you to check the flag flying in your community

Let’s all remember the true meaning of Memorial Day.

Bob Pritchard, Homer Glen.

SEND LETTERS TO: letters@suntimes.com. Please include your neighborhood or hometown and a phone number for verification purposes.

NFL bows to Trump

Since when is it unpatriotic to exercise one’s constitutional right under the First Amendment just because the venue happens to be football games? That’s the stance the National Football League under Roger Goodell has just taken in response to kneeling by mostly, but not exclusively, black players, while the national anthem is played, in symbolic protest against America’s unequal law enforcement practices. It has outlawed kneeling and threatens fines against any team where it occurs. In so doing, it embraces society’s unequal status quo.

The first such protest by black athletes was the raised fist while our national anthem was played during a medals award in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. At football games, Colin Kaepernick revived the symbolic protest in 2016 by taking a knee during the national anthem.

Though the aim was the same, to protest racial inequality, in this case specifically unequal enforcement of the law against black men, from street stops to sentencing. The statistics consistently show a pattern of anti-black bias that starts in grade school where black boys are punished more often and more severely than their white peers for the same or similar offenses.

Donald Trump, no friend of racial equality, has spun kneeling as unpatriotic. Rather, it is a reminder of how far the nation must go to validate its vaunted principles. The NFL may have caved to Trump’s pressure.

But does that end the matter? What happens if in reaction players now kneel in other major televised sports? What happens if the majority of the white players also knee in sympathy, as has already happened? What happens to NFL profits if the game’s TV audience shrinks as viewership dwindles in support of equality?

Obviously, America is still in the throes of finding its true self regarding equal rights for all. To quote the late sports icon, Yogi Berra, “It ain’t over ’til it’s over.” Stay tuned.

Ted Z. Manuel, Hyde Park

Heroic lady

State Rep. Kelly Cassidy is one heroic lady. Thank you, Rep. Cassidy, for shining a very bright light on the inner working of the House of Representatives (“Retaliation? State rep says questioning Madigan on harassment cost her job” — May 22).

This type of intimidation and fear has been going on for years now is public. This unbridled power and intimidation have to be stopped and now.

Bill Ryan, Westchester

Stay safe at the grill

Whatever happened to the good old days when the worst things we had to fear on Memorial Day were traffic jams and indigestion?

Folks setting to break out their outdoor grill this Memorial Day face a nasty choice. If they undercook their hamburgers, hot dogs, and chicken nuggets, their family and friends may face food poisoning by E. coli and salmonella bacteria. The U.S. Meat and Poultry Hotline advises raising the temperature.

But our own National Cancer Institute warns that high-temperature grilling of processed meats produces cancer-causing compounds.

Do we really need to choose between food poisoning and cancer?

Luckily, a bunch of enterprising food processors have met this challenge head-on by developing a great variety of healthful, delicious plant-based veggie burgers, veggie dogs, and soy nuggets. These products don’t harbor nasty bugs or cancer-causing compounds. They don’t even offer cholesterol, saturated fats, drugs, or pesticides like their animal-based alternatives. And, they are waiting for us in the frozen food section of our neighborhood supermarket, along with nut-based milks, ice creams, and other dairy-free desserts.

This Memorial Day, let’s stay safe on the roads, and let’s extend the safety net to our family barbecue grill.

Claude Prescott, West Town


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