Great story for all Memorial Days
Van T Barfoot died..
Remember
the
Guy who wouldn't take
The flag pole
Down
on his Virginia
Property a
While back?
You might
Remember the news story several
Months ago
About a crotchety old man in
Virginia who
Defied his local Homeowners
Association,
And refused to take down the
Flag pole on
His property along with the large
American flag
He flew on it.
Now we learn
Who that old man was.
On June 15,
1919, Van T. Barfoot was born in
Edinburg,
Texas . That probably didn't make
News back
Then.
But
Twenty-five years later, on May 23, 1944,
Near
Carano
Italy ,
That same Van T. Barfoot
Who had in
1940 enlisted in the U.S. Army, set
Out alone to
Flank German machine gun
Positions
From which gunfire was raining
Down on his
Fellow soldiers.
His advance
Took him through a minefield but
Having done
So, he proceeded to single handedly
Take out
Three enemy machine gun positions,
Returning
With 17 prisoners of war.
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And if that
Weren't enough for a day's work, he
Later
Took on and
Destroyed three German tanks
Sent to
Retake the machine gun positions.
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That probably
Didn't make much news either,
Given the
Scope of the war, but it did earn
Van T.
Barfoot, who retired as a Colonel after
Also serving
In Korea and Vietnam , a well
Deserved
Congressional
Medal of Honor.
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What did make
News...Was his Neighborhood
Association's
Quibble with how the 90-year-old
Veteran chose
To fly the American flag outside
His suburban
Virginia home. Seems the HOA rules
Said it was
OK to fly a flag on a house-mounted
Bracket, but,
For decorum, items such as
Barfoot's -foot
Flagpole were "unsuitable".
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Van Barfoot
Had been denied a permit for
The pole, but
Erected it anyway and was facing
Court action
Unless he agreed to take it down.
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Then the HOA
Story made national TV,
And the
Neighborhood Association rethought
Its position
And agreed to indulge this
Aging hero
Who dwelt among them.
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"In the
Time I have left", he said to the
Associated
Press, "I plan to continue
To fly the
American flag without interference."
As
Well he should.
And if any of his neighbors had taken a
Notion to
Contest him
Further, they might have done well to
Read his
Medal of Honor citation first. Seems it
Indicates Mr.
Van Barfoot wasn't
Particularly
Good at
Backing down.
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If you got
This email and didn't pass it on -
Guess what -
You need your butt kicked
I sent this
To you, because I didn't want MY butt kicked!
WE ONLY LIVE IN THE LAND OF THE FREE BECAUSE OF THE BRAVE!
AND, BECAUSE OF OLD MEN
LIKE VAN BARFOOT!