Flag

My Family (including those through marriage) take our American Flag very seriously.

I have the American Flag that my Fraternal Grandfather received from the Belgian family he stayed with when he was liberating Belgium from the Germans in 1944.

The woman who gave it to him started sewing it in secret after the D-Day Landings in France in June 1944, the Germans would have shot or arrested her for it. It only had 40 Stars on it (there were 48 States at the time), but considering the woman who made it was in her 50s and had never been to the US before and that she was working on it in secret that is a great accomplishment.

I have the American Flag that my Maternal Grandfather received when he became a US Citizen

I have the American Flag that was raised at the US Embassy in Saigon, South Vietnam that my Mother got from her Cousin who was a Soldier there in 1968. Her cousin also gave her a black jacket with a hand-sewn map of South Vietnam and other Vietnamese symbols on it that a South Vietnamese woman made to support her family during the war.

I have the American Flag that was raised at the US Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq that my Father got when he was there.

(Note: The US Marines stationed at the different Embassies – Saigon, Baghdad, etc. – fly a different American Flag every day and then ask for donations from people - Embassy workers, Contractors, and people in the States - who receive the Flag with a Certificate saying where and when it was flown. The Marines then use those donations to either help them buy snacks, toys, etc. to give to the local children as presents or to get some creature comforts of home for themselves.)

I have the American Flag that my Fraternal Grandfather flew outside of his home in New York for 50 years. It was hanging outside on our flag pole until it was blown down and damaged during a storm.

Our current American Flag (like the one pictured) is from a Small-Town, Veteran-run flag-making company in Upstate New York.