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Show Ihurulay, July 14, 2005 SPRING VIUE HERALD Will They StUl Sing "God Bless America"? Daniel S. Wheeler As the U.S. Senate prepares pre-pares to vote on S.J. Res. 12, the flag protection amend-ment.the amend-ment.the following is offered for your publication consideration consid-eration from the perspective of a U.S. Navy veteran, Legionnaire Le-gionnaire and proponent of the measure: Often I am asked by reporters, re-porters, "What harm does it do to burn a flag?' This question ques-tion usually comes from young men and women, most of whom aren't veterans, veter-ans, and I frequently sense that they really don't understand under-stand why this issue is important. im-portant. Recently, I was asked this question: "Tommy Lasorda told the story of a flag burning burn-ing during a Dodger game in 1976 where Rick Monday ran out on the field and tore the flag away from a protestor. protes-tor. When they became aware of what had happened, hap-pened, the crowd stood and sang 'God Bless America.' Doesn't that prove that we don't need the flag-protection amendment?' When I heard the question, I was reminded of what Gen. Patrick H. Brady, Medal of Honor recipient, said. He pointed out that nobody can change your mind or my mind about protecting our flag. It's the children of America that we have to think about. What happens when they lose, or are no longer taught, respect for our flag? What will happen when an enemy threatens our nation, or even attacks our country, and our moral fiber has become so desensitized - our patriotism has been so eroded - that ordinary or-dinary citizens aren't willing to stand and fight for the United States? Brady reflects on those who have died in battle, and those who risked their lives for this great country. He says that the men who wear the Medal of Honor risked their lives for their country -many of them died - but he wonders if they would be willing to risk their lives for the "country we are becoming." becom-ing." Then I think about those thousands of men and women singing "God Bless America" in D dger Stadium. Stadi-um. Why were tky doing it? Well, obviously they did it because they loved their flag. But why do they love their flag, and why do they love their country? It's not something some-thing you are born with, this fiatnotism and love of our lag. It's something you learn from your parents, your teachers, your Sunday School teachers, your drill instructors, in-structors, your life experiences. experi-ences. Throughout the lives of those who rose to their feet, we had laws protecting Old Glory. Throughout their lives, they'd been taught that America was a good nation, in fact, the greatest nation on earth. Many probably risked their lives in her defense. de-fense. They understood that "the tree of Liberty is watered wa-tered with the blood of patriots." patri-ots." That's why they stood and sang. But what of this generation, genera-tion, and of the next? What are they being taught about love of country? What are they being taught about the greatness of America? How many of them will start each school day pledging their allegiance al-legiance to our flag, as most of us did? How many of them will learn the proper way to respect her, and what she means and why patriotism patrio-tism is important? And what of those who grow up learning that the flag is just one symbol among many, just one point of view, not deserving of any special recognition, dignity dig-nity or respect? How will they reconcile the idea that we prove our love for our nation's flag by allowing those who hate America to desecrate it without penalty? penal-ty? Twenty years from now, when another Rick Monday snatches a flag from someone some-one who is trymg to burn it, will the crowd still sing "God Bless America," or willit rise in anger because the game has been delayed? It's certainly true - as we've heard people say - one person burning a flag, or urinating uri-nating on it, or defecating on it, or trampling it under his feet, will, not harm Old Glory. But it's not true that no harm is done. The harm is done if the American people fail to respond re-spond to such vile and hurtful hurt-ful conduct. The harm is done only if, by our apathy, we condone the defiling of the banner that has draped the caskets ofvour American Ameri-can heroes. Edmund Burke once said: "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is tor good men to do nothing." Failure to protect our flag by law is not a celebration of liberty; it is the celebration of evil. A great nation cannot preserve its greatness by turning a blind eye and a deaf ear to that which is wrong, to that which is destructive, de-structive, to that which is immoral im-moral and evil. What harm does it do to burn a flag? Over time it destroys the very fabric of our nation. It undermines the goodness that makes us great; and it ensures that future generations genera-tions will not stand and spontaneously spon-taneously sing "God Bless America because they will not know that - once - God did. Daniel S. Wheeler is the President of the Citizens Flag Alliance, Inc., and the Executive Execu-tive Director of The American Legion National Headquarters Headquar-ters in Indianapolis, Indiana. Brides, let Social Security know if you change your name Heather McKinnon SOCIAL SECURITY PUBLIC AFFAIRS SPECIALIST The other day I read that about four of every five American Amer-ican weddings take place between be-tween May and October. That means we now are in the middle mid-dle of the matrimonial season and, if you or someone you know is getting married, here is a little advice to keep in mind. If you plan to exchange your maiden name for a married mar-ried name - including hyphenated hyphen-ated names such as Smith-Jones Smith-Jones - be sure to let Social Security Se-curity know. Of course, many women continue to use their maiden name after marriage. If you continue to use your maiden name consistently throughout your working years, you do not need to contact us. But if you decide to change your name at a later time, you should let us know so that we can update your Social Security Securi-ty record. This is a quick, easy and free service. You're welcome to visit your local Social Security office. Or just go online to and click on "Application "Applica-tion Form SS5." You can also call us at 1-800-772-1213. (Ma? 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