Veterans Defending the Bill of Rights Letter to the House Urging Opposition to the Flag Desecration Constitutional Amendment (6/19/2001)
VETERANS DEFENDING THE BILL OF RIGHTS122 Maryland Avenue Washington D.C. 20002 June 19, 2001 Dear Representative: My name is Gary May and I am writing to you today as the chair of a group called Veterans Defending the Bill of Rights, to urge you to oppose H.J. Res. 36 the flag desecration constitutional amendment. If adopted, this amendment would be the first to restrict the freedoms guaranteed Americans by the Bill of Rights. I served in the U.S. Marine Corps in Vietnam and I love this country, its people and what it stands for. I am offended when I see the flag burned or treated disrespectfully. As offensive and painful as this is, I still believe that those dissenting voices need to be heard. This country is unique and special because the minority, the unpopular, the dissenters and the downtrodden also have a voice and are allowed to be heard in whatever way they choose to express themselves. The freedom of expression, even when it hurts, is the truest test of our dedication to the principles that our flag represents. In addition to my own military combat experience, I have been involved in veterans affairs as a clinical social worker, program manager, board member of numerous veterans organizations, and advocated on their behalf since 1974. Through all of my work in veterans affairs I have yet to hear a veteran say that the veteran's service and sacrifice was in pursuit of protecting the flag. When confronted with the horrific demands of combat, most of us who are honest say we fought to stay alive. Combatants do not return home awestruck by the flag. Putting the pretty face of protecting the flag on the unforgettable, unspeakable abominations of combat seems to trivialize what my fellow veterans and I experienced. Here is what some of the Veterans Defending the Bill of Rights have said about this amendment: "Ultimately, Americans and our representatives on Capitol Hill must realize that when a flag goes up in flames, only multi-colored cloth is destroyed. If our freedoms are lost, the true fabric of our nation is frayed and weakened." -Bill McCloskey, Bethesda, Maryland, served in the Vietnam War and was awarded the Army Commendation Medal.
"My military service was not about protecting the flag; it was about protecting the freedoms behind it. The flag amendment curtails free speech and expression in a way that should frighten us all." -Brady Bustany, West Hollywood, California, served in the Air Force during the Gulf War.
"The first amendment to our constitution is the simplest and clearest official guarantee of freedom ever made by a sovereign people to itself. The so-called 'flag protection amendment' would be a bureaucratic hamstringing of a noble act. Let us reject in the name of liberty for which so many have sacrificed, the call to ban flag desecration. Let us, rather, allow the first amendment, untrammeled and unfettered by this proposed constitutional red tape, to continue be the same guarantor of our liberty for the next two centuries (at least) that is has been for the last two." -State Delegate John Doyle (West Virginia) served as an infantry officer in Vietnam.
"It is disheartening to hear politicians arguing that they must restrict our right to engage in political protest when we GIs fought against regimes that stripped their citizens of those very same rights and then used their totalitarian powers to commit some of the most horrific acts imaginable." -Mr. Tom E. Moses served as an Army paratrooper during the liberation of France in the Second World War.
"The flag is not a sacred object. To regard it as such would be an affront to all religious persons." -Mr. Steve Gerriston, Bothell, Washington, is an Air Force veteran.
"I know of no American veteran who put his or her life on the line to protect the sanctity of the flag. That was not why we fulfilled our patriotic duty. We did so and still do to protect our country and our way of life and to ensure that our children enjoy the same freedoms for which we fought." -Jack J. Heyman, Ft. Myers Beach, Florida. served in the Korean War. Mr. Heyman's great grandfather was a Pennsylvania regular during the Civil War; his father served in the Navy during World War I; his brother fought in WWII; and one of his children served in the Army following the Vietnam War. I hope you will join me and the Veterans Defending the Bill of Rights in opposing H.J. Res. 36, the flag desecration constitutional amendment. Sincerely, Gary May
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