Van T. Barfoot, Va. Medal of Honor recipient who won battle to fly flag in front yard, dies at 92

A snappy salute, Col. Barfoot.

HE, was a DUDE!

May he be Blessed with the Sleep of Peace, until the Trumpet blows .......
 
 
With Respect, From a Fellow Lifer .......

Everyone in that neighborhood should raise a flag in Co. Barfoot's honor. In the meantime, I shall include him in my thoughts as we raise our flag every day.

RIP Col. Barfoot.======================================================== One of my husband's first cases, soon after he passed the bar, was a fight with a client's condo association who were demanding that the client remove the American flag that he was flying on his property.  I believe that they were interpreting something in the by-laws about lawn ornaments and applying that to the flying of our flag.  He won the suit, of course (of course!) but it leads me to add, we must be careful who we put in office.........any office...........condominium association president, PTA or our country.  Some people simply get a little drunk with power.

no matter how I try to trick the formatting that automatically refuses to allow me paragraphs, it wins -- sorry for the above mess -- it was "RIP Col. Barfoot to be followed in the next paragraph by "One of...."

May you be awarded a blissful sleep and be remembered with honor, Col. Barfoot.  

when stories of his fortitude and bravery are passed down to future generations, he may well inspire some to greatness. That is a legacy

Gee Mr. Peterman, thanks for making me cry on my morning break at work.  What a great man.  I hope everyone that has a service member in their family takes the time to listen to them when they need or want to talk about their experiences.  Sometimes the best thing you can do is just listen and remember.

There I was this morning thinking 'We don't really do flags in the UK ..... " so I went out with a friend this afernoon for a drive around to admire the spring flowers and trees and see what damage yestreday's storm had done and blow me - there fluttering bravely in the breeze in the front garden of a Welsh cottage was a Wesh flag on a real flagpole. We have a lovely flag in Wales with a big red dragon on a green and white background.
Col. Barfoot sounds like a he was a great person. RIP that good soldier.
 

I don't care what anyone flies in their yard, be it Old Glory or a banner saying "Happy Spring."  It is none of my business.  I lived for a few years in Reston where the homeowner's association was composed totally anal people.  You had to have their approval for a new screen door.  One lady's townhouse had plastic pieces on the window to imitate a colonial style.  She removed them when her two year old tried to eat them, and they threatened her with court unless she put them back up.  I think she used white electrician's tape.  We have no such homeowners association here in Arlington.  There is an association but it has no power to review architecture.  I would not care for a flagpole in my yard.  My house is neither a government building nor a military installation.  There are smaller poles that attach at anm angle to the house that suffice for me.  I also fly flag bunting on major holidays such as Memorial Day and Independence Day.  But if you want to, my principle is MYOB (Mind Your Own Business).

I only hope that Col. Barfoot has won for himself another honor: be it said that because of of his persistance anyone respectfully flying The flag of the United States of America will never again be harassed.  RIP Colonel.  

Hmmm~ not exactly lively today. I have often been moved by the respect and reverence that Americans show for The Flag. Not so in the UK, where the Union Jack represents England, Scotland and Northern Ireland - 'scuse me, what about Wales? This year, there will be flags everywhere, what with the Queen's Jubilee and the Olympic games. I'm going to stock up my freezer, hybernate and hope the weather is kind to my garden.

Hazel, when I lived in Ireland you almost never saw flags anywhere other than on Government buildings, so I understand what you are talking about.  I think it probably goes back to the fact that our national anthem is about our flag and how it represented the bravery of the men fighting for it.  That gets embedded deep in the soul of a country and its citizens.

I have always felt that anyone who displays a flag should do so with a flag made in the country it honors and flown in accordance with proper etiquette or not at all. This man did so and understood and revered proper protocol recognizing a flag is not a piece of cloth anymore than a holy book is ink and paper. It represents the core beliefs of a civilized sovereign state. Old Glory on a bright blue day with a breeze going sends chills up my spine. No one should be compelled to do it but what kind of grouchy bastards would be opposed to this man especially one made of all the right stuff. They should have been bringing him cookies and pies and cherishing the ground he gardened. As my 82 year old partner would say "Dumbshits."

Saw an elderly chap in the doctor's office today wearing his WWII vet hat.  I thought about Andy Rooney who recently passed away and who wrote a book called "My War".  Made Brokaw's book look sad.  The only thing Brokaw said that was meaningful was the fact that they were the greatest generation.  Think about it.  Survived the depression; fought and won WWII and then rebuilt Europe and Japan; invented tv, wiped out polio which almost killed my own mother; sent food all over the world raised by our farmers and I haven't even taken off my keyboard warm-up jacket.    Who in their right mind would want to jerk around a WWII combat vet who wants to fly his flag in his front yard.  Not this writer.  

Saw an elderly chap in the doctor's office today wearing his WWII vet hat.  I thought about Andy Rooney who recently passed away and who wrote a book called "My War".  Made Brokaw's book look sad.  The only thing Brokaw said that was meaningful was the fact that they were the greatest generation.  Think about it.  Survived the depression; fought and won WWII and then rebuilt Europe and Japan; invented tv, wiped out polio which almost killed my own mother; sent food all over the world raised by our farmers and I haven't even taken off my keyboard warm-up jacket.    Who in their right mind would want to jerk around a WWII combat vet who wants to fly his flag in his front yard.  Not this writer.  

Saw an elderly chap in the doctor's office today wearing his WWII vet hat.  I thought about Andy Rooney who recently passed away and who wrote a book called "My War".  Made Brokaw's book look sad.  The only thing Brokaw said that was meaningful was the fact that they were the greatest generation.  Think about it.  Survived the depression; fought and won WWII and then rebuilt Europe and Japan; invented tv, wiped out polio which almost killed my own mother; sent food all over the world raised by our farmers and I haven't even taken off my keyboard warm-up jacket.    Who in their right mind would want to jerk around a WWII combat vet who wants to fly his flag in his front yard.  Not this writer.  

Saw an elderly chap in the doctor's office today wearing his WWII vet hat.  I thought about Andy Rooney who recently passed away and who wrote a book called "My War".  Made Brokaw's book look sad.  The only thing Brokaw said that was meaningful was the fact that they were the greatest generation.  Think about it.  Survived the depression; fought and won WWII and then rebuilt Europe and Japan; invented tv, wiped out polio which almost killed my own mother; sent food all over the world raised by our farmers and I haven't even taken off my keyboard warm-up jacket.    Who in their right mind would want to jerk around a WWII combat vet who wants to fly his flag in his front yard.  Not this writer.  

Saw an elderly chap in the doctor's office today wearing his WWII vet hat.  I thought about Andy Rooney who recently passed away and who wrote a book called "My War".  Made Brokaw's book look sad.  The only thing Brokaw said that was meaningful was the fact that they were the greatest generation.  Think about it.  Survived the depression; fought and won WWII and then rebuilt Europe and Japan; invented tv, wiped out polio which almost killed my own mother; sent food all over the world raised by our farmers and I haven't even taken off my keyboard warm-up jacket.    Who in their right mind would want to jerk around a WWII combat vet who wants to fly his flag in his front yard.  Not this writer.  

Saw an elderly chap in the doctor's office today wearing his WWII vet hat.  I thought about Andy Rooney who recently passed away and who wrote a book called "My War".  Made Brokaw's book look sad.  The only thing Brokaw said that was meaningful was the fact that they were the greatest generation.  Think about it.  Survived the depression; fought and won WWII and then rebuilt Europe and Japan; invented tv, wiped out polio which almost killed my own mother; sent food all over the world raised by our farmers and I haven't even taken off my keyboard warm-up jacket.    Who in their right mind would want to jerk around a WWII combat vet who wants to fly his flag in his front yard.  Not this writer.  

Saw an elderly chap in the doctor's office today wearing his WWII vet hat.  I thought about Andy Rooney who recently passed away and who wrote a book called "My War".  Made Brokaw's book look sad.  The only thing Brokaw said that was meaningful was the fact that they were the greatest generation.  Think about it.  Survived the depression; fought and won WWII and then rebuilt Europe and Japan; invented tv, wiped out polio which almost killed my own mother; sent food all over the world raised by our farmers and I haven't even taken off my keyboard warm-up jacket.    Who in their right mind would want to jerk around a WWII combat vet who wants to fly his flag in his front yard.  Not this writer.  

Saw an elderly chap in the doctor's office today wearing his WWII vet hat.  I thought about Andy Rooney who recently passed away and who wrote a book called "My War".  Made Brokaw's book look sad.  The only thing Brokaw said that was meaningful was the fact that they were the greatest generation.  Think about it.  Survived the depression; fought and won WWII and then rebuilt Europe and Japan; invented tv, wiped out polio which almost killed my own mother; sent food all over the world raised by our farmers and I haven't even taken off my keyboard warm-up jacket.    Who in their right mind would want to jerk around a WWII combat vet who wants to fly his flag in his front yard.  Not this writer.  

Saw an elderly chap in the doctor's office today wearing his WWII vet hat.  I thought about Andy Rooney who recently passed away and who wrote a book called "My War".  Made Brokaw's book look sad.  The only thing Brokaw said that was meaningful was the fact that they were the greatest generation.  Think about it.  Survived the depression; fought and won WWII and then rebuilt Europe and Japan; invented tv, wiped out polio which almost killed my own mother; sent food all over the world raised by our farmers and I haven't even taken off my keyboard warm-up jacket.    Who in their right mind would want to jerk around a WWII combat vet who wants to fly his flag in his front yard.  Not this writer.  

Elwin I think you have a posting poltergeist.

Elwin .... We've all done it. For so e reason you need to refresh the page to get it to sometimes.

Lynn....yep! In some instances the home owners associations can be good and helpful, but in my experience, most of the rules are made by people who reached their greatest heights in high school.

Andy, agreed.

Andy, you have it right.  I remember my father saying that the lower the level of government, the more petty and mean-spirited the office holders.  By the way, if you want to see the Union Jack flying, go to Northern Ireland where the neighborhoods display “their” flag by the hundreds and thousands.  That’s an area with a whole bunch of anger.  I asked a friend who is originally from Northern Ireland if there was much PTSD.  He said that sales of tranquilizers are nigher in Northern Ireland than anywhere else in Europe.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Lynn I never saw many actual flags being flown around homes in Northern Ireland either (I lived in Cork but had friends in Derry and Belfast), but if you drive on Shankill road in Belfast almost all the murals have a union jack painted on them somewhere.  You do see flags being carried a lot during marching season but they don't elicit the same emotions there as our flag does for us.

Goodness! Poor elwin (a good Welsh name, 'tho in Wales it would be Elwyn) When you press "send" count to ten slowly before pressing again. This page does not do fast!

nachista~ Nor'n Ireland is a different matter when it comes to flags. I don't understand all of the  politics, so not fit to have an opinion.
 

Hazel, I tried not to get involved in politics when I was visiting my Ulster friends, but it is inescapable there.  Some people handle flags like they would handle a weapon, it felt completely different than anything I've ever seen or experienced.  It was very sad.

There's a saying - "Nailing your colours to the mast" - yes, flags are a weapon.
And I'm off to duvet land. Nos Da, dear people. x

We drove from Dublin up to Belfast and then east and south along the coast.  What we saw were strings of small flags going from lamp post to lamp post, Union Jack in Protestant areas and Irish flag in Catholic - plus having the curbstones painted in the three corresponding colors.  We did not see many full-sized flags flying from poles.  I will post some pictures from that trip (2005) so you can see what I mean.

I had to finally burn my Tibetan prayer flag that I had on my back deck right before last grilling season. It made me thing of Edmund Hilary and the endurance of a sherpa. The beautiful colors faded and then I set fire to it as is tradition. It served me well. When I was alone out there with my grill sizzling and my beer ice cold and I was blowing smoke rings with my cigar and seeing all my spirit helpers, it gently swayed back and forth and carried me away to places and adventures I experienced or envisioned I would. 92 is a good life but eternity is even better.

Tommy ~ Your 6:44, beautiful.

I was able, by chance, to catch a ride with a very old gentleman way back in the last of my college days. He and I only spoke briefly as I was sleeping in the back of his old truck after an exceptionally long walk about in the Alabama Outback. When we reached the end of our ride together, he extended his hand to shake mine and I noticed a lone tattoo.

It said :

U.S.S INDIANAPOLIS

For the first time in my young life, I understood what service to one's country meant. I think the only words out of my mouth after I saw his ink was "Thank you. Thank you for your service and sacrifice to our Country." I think of him every day and pray he's in a peaceful place now. God knows he'd been through Hell here.