Thursday, November 20, 2008

What are those flags? What do they mean?

I know I am supposed to be "doing my green room". I will, I plan on working on that today.

But I wanted to share with you about Service Star Flags, many of you know what I am talking about. The Service Star Flags were designed in Ohio in 1917 by an Army Col. to honor his 2 sons fighting in WWI. The function of the flag was to let the community know who was directly affected by the war in their small towns. It allowed community members to help, aid and support those families who were often without their husbands, fathers and sons for months or years at a time. The flags were hung in the front right window of the home of families where the service member lives. These Flags have served as a reminder to us as Nation to the sacrifice and commitment made by members of the Armed Forces and their families.
Today as we remain steadfast in our nations commitment to Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom many more homes are displaying the Service Flags. Let us remember why those flags are there, those men and women overseas need our help and support but so do the families left behind. Reach out and see what these families might need, it's usually something easy or simple that doesn't take much time or money...maybe they need their lawn mowed, bushes trimmed, a meal that doesn't consist of a dog, tot, or sandwich in it. Maybe they'd like the Cheerios vacuumed out from underneath the car seat, their sidewalk shoveled, time to go grocery shopping alone, or maybe they just need dinner at a friends house. Don't just offer, insist with no strings attached. Military families don't ask for help, and they don't go looking for it, but sometimes we just need it and it' too hard to ask for it.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I hear ya Colleen! I wish I could come over and help you clean! Everything's better with help! I think civilians just don't know what to do with us...