Posted on 07/17/2020 9:41:27 AM PDT by USA Conservative
The Pentagon on Friday laid out a new policy on Friday that will ban displays of the Confederate flag on military installations, in a memo that avoids mentioning an explicit ban or the controversial flag itself.
“Flags are powerful symbols, particularly in the military community for whom flags embody common mission, common histories, and the special, timeless bond of warriors,” the memo, obtained by Fox News, says.
The memo, signed by Defense Secretary Mark Esper, lists the type of flags that may be displayed at military installations -- including the American flag, military service flags, flags of U.S. states and territories and the POW/MIA flag, as well as flags for which the U.S. is a member such as NATO.
The Confederate flag is not included on that list. The Associated Press, which first obtained the memo, reported that the move was done in a way to ban it without angering or contradicting President Trump, who has defended the right to display it. A Defense Department official, however, said that it was to ensure the policy was apolitical and could withstand legal challenge.
“The flags we fly must accord with the military imperatives of good order and discipline, treating all our people with dignity and respect, and rejecting divisive symbols” the memo says.
Confederate flags, monuments and military base names have become a point of controversy for protesters and activists in the weeks since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
In many parts of the country, state officials have taken down Confederate monuments and symbols over the Confederacy’s legacy of slavery. But many activists have since moved on to targeting past figures and symbols of U.S. history in general.
Trump has rejected the idea of changing base names.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
” A Defense Department official, however, said that it was to ensure the policy was apolitical and could withstand legal challenge.”
Uh, huh. The timing of this is obviously political and yet another jab at the President by people who shouldn’t be playing in that arena.
This is a low IQ plan to get Trump to do something so they can try to make him look bad.
But their biggest problem is he’s not bad.
It must get real tiring for these deep state people. Their only option is to tell lies and more lies.
Well that means no more gay pride flags and mexican flags.
What about the Gadsden Flag?
The military has to be a cohesive unit, trusting your team mates. The US military is probably one of the most racially integrated entities to ever exist, and I can understand how some minorities might feel uncomfortable with a brother in arms displaying something that might sow bad feelings amongst the troops. So Fly US flags and state flags while in uniform. As a white guy, it would bother me just as much if someone on my team, my aircrew, or one of my bunk mates was displaying a BLM flag. I grew up in the south, have a proud southern heritage, and waved the stars and bars a few times in my youth. Never with racist intent. It was just a rebel spirit rallying symbol. The US flag can be the same rallying symbol.
Now base name changes are another story. Dont erase history.
Or military flag emblems. After all, the Nazis used an Eagle too.
Seems totally reasonable to me. You’re right that unit cohesion has to be prioritized. Allowing wedge issues like this to come between our troops on a battlefield will get our troops killed.
Seems reasonable to me. The Confederacy represented treason. They actively fought the US Military. So why would we allow flags from treasonous organizations to be on a US Military installation?
Thank you Nimrata Randhawa.
It only applies to the installations, active military and civilian employees. I am sure contractors have to sign on as well. As a retiree transferred to the retired list, I can stick the stars and bars on my car and there is not a damn thing they can legally do about it. Unlike in bygone days even the Base General cannot bar me from the base me as a legal DOD ID Card holder without a hearing. Last time that happened here over a FUBO sticker, the General lost that fight. That is why they are trying to split the baby now. Same with dependents who do not fall under the UCMJ. Maybe if you lived in base housing it would be in the contract that you agree not to display such things.
You are right though, does this mean no more rainbow flags in June, pink flags in the fall or flags announcing Hispanic heritage month, or other flags during some other heritage month. I have to wonder if that will be the case. You see them all over base during those months. If they uphold the ban as reported I have no problem with it. If I see a BLM flag, I will report it to base after I call the local TV Station.
You must be in favor of renaming bases.
Uh, no. You missed the point altogether
Interesting that you bring that up. The local base where I am retired has taken to not letting patrons into the commissary of PX without a mask, and because I shop there with my wife about twice a month, its the only place where I succumb to wearing one, much as I dislike it. The threat is that the base commander can bar you from the post if you dont follow the directive. Until your comment, I did think that the Base Commander was pretty much the authority and like a ship captain, his word is law (within limits of course).
John Cornyn is pushing to rename Fort Hood because it is named for Confederate General John Bell Hood.
Absolutely.
Just as treasonous flags should not be flown on US Military bases, US Army bases should not be named after traitors.
I think US Army bases should be named after US Army heroes. Wouldn’t Audie Murphy, a native Texan, who won the Medal of Honor, be a better namesake than John Bell Hood, who was a traitor and oath-breaker (and a LOSER, by the way). He wasn’t even a native Texan (born in Kentucky, and chose to live in Louisiana after the war).
I think the southern states had every bit as much right to declare independence from the United States as the American colonies did to declare independence from Britain. But that’s not really the issue. If you’re doing something that makes the guys around you hate your guts, there’s a big risk that you can’t work together in combat. If that happens, that opens cracks in the defenses. That can cost not only the lives of the guys who don’t like each other, but plenty of other lives as well.
When you sign up for military service, you submit yourself to the UCMJ and give up a lot of rights. I think that’s incredibly admirable and I am very thankful to all those who serve in our fine military for their sacrifice and the sacrifices their families make on our behalf. But living under that means sacrificing things for the sake of unit cohesion, so that the unit specifically and the military as a whole can better function. So if the military determines that a particular flag or symbol or whatever is creating rifts among our troops, I completely understand them deciding to ban those things, regardless of what I think about the symbol itself.
Thank you Nimrata Randhawa.
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Filthy Indian Communist needs to get the f back to India
So just ban history a$$holes.
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