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The FReeper Foxhole Celebrates Flag Day - June 14th, 2004
Various

Posted on 06/13/2004 9:18:03 PM PDT by Professional Engineer



Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
.

FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.



...................................................................................... ...........................................

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OUR FLAG WAS STILL THERE




CELEBRATING OUR FLAG



Flags of the Revolution

The History of Flag Day

National flags are not merely symbols of a country. Their colors and designs convey past history and future goals. Flags have powerful connotations. They speak to the people and politicians. People of one country will burn the flag of another with whose politics they do not agree. To show their anger, students display their own nation's flags with the design altered or cut out completely. Dictators fly flags; dissidents rip them down. In every country of the world, the treatment of a flag displays an opinion or statement.

Americans take the treatment of their flag seriously and in the 20th century this has become an important issue. Included in the code of ethics are such rules as the national flag cannot be used for advertising. It cannot cover a monument or any ceilings. It must not be folded while being displayed. No one should write on an American flag. Ships can lower their flags slightly in greeting each other, but otherwise should not be dipped for any other object or person.

In the late 1960s, American students wore small flags sewn to the back of their jeans, symbolically insulting the American government and protesting its involvement in the Vietnam War. They burned the American flag in front of the Capitol Building in Washington as a statement of protest. In the early 1990s, senators suggested an amendment to the Constitution that would make this treatment of the flag illegal. The proposition was opposed because many others felt that this change would be a violation of Americans' constitutional rights to express their opinions freely.

For all the controversy it is interesting to point out that the United States did not even have a standardized flag until 1912! Called the "Stars and Stripes," or "Old Glory," the flag is one of the most complicated in the world. No other flag needs 64 pieces of fabric to make. The current flag has 13 red and white alternating stripes (representing the original 13 states) and 50 stars (each star represents one of the states of the Union) on a blue background.

The American flag has also changed designs more than any other flag in the world. The first flag, called the Grand Union, was first flown at the headquarters of the Continent Army on January 1, 1776. Betsy Ross, a' seamstress, is said to have contributed to this design.


Betsy Ross showing the United States flag to George Washington and others

She had an upholstery business which made flags for navy ships in Pennsylvania. A legend still persists that she showed George Washington how to make a five-pointed star and suggested thirteen stars in a circle for the first flag. Her descendants claimed that she offered the design. George Washington did design the Grand Union but an often-quoted remark attributed to him might not be true:

We take the stars from heaven, the red from our mother country, separate it by white in stripes, thus showing that we have separated from her...

On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress proposed that the United States have a national flag instead of the British Union Jack. The 13 stars of the flag represented the 13 new states. There were few public ceremonies honoring the Stars and Stripes until 1877, when on, June 14, it was flown from every government building in honor of the centennial of the adoption of a national flag. Schools had unfurled American flags over their doors or outside the buildings long before this; but in 1890, North Dakota and New Jersey made a law that required their schools to fly the flag daily. The first official Flag Day was observed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1893. New York also proclaimed June 14 as Flag Day 1897. Other states were slow to follow. Some people thought that the day was too close to Memorial Day and Independence Day.

In August 1949, President Harry S. Truman proclaimed June 14 as Flag Day. Since then the President proclaims the commemoration yearly, and encourages all Americans in the country to display the Stars and Stripes outside their homes and businesses. Individual states determine how they will observe the day. In Pennsylvania and American Samoa* it is a public holiday. Usually the flag is flown from all public buildings, speeches are made in public places and ceremonies take place in towns or cities.

*In American Samoa Flag Day is celebrated on April 17th.

The Pledge of Allegiance

Elementary school children across the nation make The Pledge of Allegiance in front of the flag every weekday morning:

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America,
and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.


The flag flies over the U.S. Supreme Court,
where the First Amendment right to free speech
regarding the Pledge of Allegiance was upheld

CREDIT: Horydczak, Theodor, photographer.
"U.S. Supreme Court with Flag." Circa 1920-1950.
Washington as It Was: Photographs by Theodor Horydczak, 1923-1959,

Annual Pause For the Pledge of Allegiance Flag Day USA June 14, 7:00 p.m. EDT At 7:00 p.m. (EDT) on Flag Day, June 14, Americans all across the nation will pause to recite the Pledge of Allegiance to our Flag. While most of us know the words of the P!edge, there are a large number who do not know of its origin.

Mr. Francis Bellamy, an ordained minister of Rome, New York is credited with the authorship of the original Pledge. It was he, who on the eve of the 400th Anniversary of the discovery of America, initiated a campaign for the establishment of a national holiday on October 12, . . . to celebrate the day on which Columbus discovered America. In his concept, he envisioned that flags should be flown over every school-house and public building from coast to coast.

In the material which he nationally circulated, he wrote, “Let the flag float over every school-house in the land and the exercise be such as shall impress upon our youth the patriotic duty of citizenship.” He also included the original 23 words of the Pledge which he had developed. “I pledge allegiance to my flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” Thus it was that on Columbus Day in October 1892, the Pledge of Allegiance was repeated by more than 12 million public school children in every state in the union. The wording of the Pledge has been modified three times. In 1923, the words “the flag of the United States” were substituted for “my flag.” In 1924, “of America” were added. On Flag Day 1954, the words “under God” became a part of the Pledge. Thus the 23 words have become 31 words.

By a Joint Resolution on June 9, 1966, the Congress requested the President to issue annually a proclamation designating the week in which June 14 occurs as National Flag Week and calling upon citizens of the United States to display the flag during that week.

Listen to Red Skelton explain the Pledge

The Star Spangled Banner

During the War of 1812 between the British and Americans, lawyer Francis Scott Key was escorting a prisoner to freedom by ship when he saw an American flag surviving a battle in Baltimore Harbor. The flag inspired him to write the poem which provides the words for the national anthem.


While making preparations for the The Battle of Baltimore Major George Armistead requested a flag "... so large that the British will have no difficulty in seeing it from a distance..." to be flown over the Fort. Mary Pickersgill of Baltimore was commissioned to construct the flag. With help from her daughter, Caroline Purdy, she sewed a woolen flag measuring 42 feet long by 30 feet high, a remarkably large flag. Shown here is a representation of that flag. There are several interesting things to note. The flag has fifteen stars and fifteen stripes. During the War of 1812 there were 15 states in the Union, Vermont and Kentucky having been added to the original 13. An early plan for the flag was to add a new star and a new stripe for each new state. With 15 stripes on the Pickersgill flag, which was 30 feet high, that meant that each stripe was 2 feet wide! On that flag each star was also 2 feet across!


The Star Spangled Banner

The actual flag now hangs in the Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.. Today the "Star-Spangled Banner" is sung at large public gatherings such as sports events. Many television stations play the anthem before the station closes down for the night.

The Star-Spangled Banner
The National Anthem

O say can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight
O'er the ramparts we watch'd were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket's red glare, the bomb bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there,
O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream,
'Tis the star-spangled banner - O long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore,
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion
A home and a Country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wash'd out their foul footstep's pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave,
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O thus be it ever when freemen shall stand
Between their lov'd home and the war's desolation!
Blest with vict'ry and peace may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the power that hath made and preserv'd us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto - "In God is our trust,"
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

National Anthem (Faith Hill)

National Anthem (Whitney Houston)

   History of the Flag

The Stars and Stripes is the most popular name for the red, white and blue national flag of the United States. It is symbolic of our land, our people, our government and the ideals of our country. It is a stirring sight as it flutters in the wind.

The color red was selected for hardiness and courage, white for purity and innocence and blue for vigilance, perseverance and justice.

Francis Scott Key first called the U.S. flag the Star-Spangled Banner in 1814 when he wrote the poem that became our national anthem.

William Driver, a sea captain from Salem, Massachusetts, gave the name Old Glory to the flag in 1824.

The Stars and Stripes was first displayed: in a land battle on August 16,1777; on a U.S. Navy ship on November 1, 1777; in a naval battle in the Pacific on March 25, 1813; in Antarctica in 1840; at the North Pole on April 6, 1909; and on the moon on July 20, 1969.

patriotic curly-cue.gif (1526 bytes)

The Flag Changes Through History

Our country's first flag was used during the Revolutionary War from 1775 to 17 It was called the Continental Colors and represented all 13 colonies.

On June 14,1777, following the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the Continental Congress empowered the creation of the first official flag. It consisted of 13 alternating red and white stripes a 13 white stars on a field of blue.

Two new states had joined the Union 1794, and five more by 1817. On April 1818, Congress approved using 13 stripes again and adding a new star on July 4th after a new state that had joined the Union.

The flag's 48 stars were fixed in 1912. It remained that way until 1959 when the 49th star was added for Alaska and the 50th for Hawaii in 1960.






FReeper Foxhole Armed Services Links




TOPICS: VetsCoR
KEYWORDS: begentleitsmyfirst; flagday; freeperfoxhole; history; samsdayoff; veterans
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THE GRAND UNION FLAG

Image of the Grand Union flag.


The first flag of the colonists to have any resemblance to the present Stars and Stripes was the Grand Union Flag, sometimes referred to as the Congress Colors, the First Navy Ensign, and the Cambridge Flag.

Its design consisted of 13 stripes, alternately red and white, representing the Thirteen Colonies, with a blue field in the upper left-hand corner bearing the red cross of St. George of England with the white cross of St. Andrew of Scotland.

As the flag of the revolution it was used on many occasions. It was first flown by the ships of the Colonial Fleet on the Delaware River. On December 3, 1775, it was raised aboard Captain Esek Hopkin's flagship Alfred by John Paul Jones, then a Navy lieutenant. Later the flag was raised on the liberty pole at Prospect Hill, which was near George Washington's headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was our unofficial national flag on July 4, 1776, Independence Day; and it remained the unofficial national flag and ensign of the Navy until June 14, 1777, when the Continental Congress authorized the Stars and Stripes.

Interestingly, the Grand Union Flag also was the standard of the British East India Company. It was only by degrees that the Union Flag of Great Britain was discarded. The final breach between the Colonies and Great Britain brought about the removal of the British Union from the canton of our striped flag and the substitution of stars on a blue field.





Today's Educational Sources and suggestions for further reading:

http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?storyID=123005055
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/06/20010607-1.html
http://www.americaslibrary.gov/jb/modern/jb_modern_birth_2_e.html
http://www.americaslibrary.gov/assets/jb/modern/jb_modern_birth_1_e.jpg
http://www.flagday.org/Pages/PausePage.html
http://www.il.ngb.army.mil/museum/flag/history.htm
http://www.il.ngb.army.mil/museum/flag/folding.htm
http://www.il.ngb.army.mil/museum/flag/when.htm
http://www.sewing.org/enthusiast/html/eo_flagfolds.html
http://www.sewing.org/enthusiast/html/eo_sewamericanflag.html
http://www.ushistory.org/betsy/flagstar.html
http://www.ushistory.org/betsy/flagtale.html
http://www.robins.af.mil/rncoa/Flag%20Code.htm
http://www.ushistory.org/betsy/more/canby.htm
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/alsj/alsj-usflag.html
http://www.lrl.usace.army.mil/brl/flag_etiquette.htm
http://www.bcpl.net/~etowner/flag.html
http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/cic_text/misc/ourflag/titlepage.htm
http://www.army.mil/soldiers/jun97/features/flag.html
http://www.umkc.edu/imc/flagday.htm
http://homeschooling.about.com/cs/unitssubjhol/a/flagday.htm
http://www.flagday.org/Pages/LivingFlag.html
1 posted on 06/13/2004 9:18:04 PM PDT by Professional Engineer
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To: Professional Engineer

Flag Etiquette

Do

Don't


2 posted on 06/13/2004 9:18:40 PM PDT by Professional Engineer (Ronald Reagan, a Patriot on loan from God, has gone to his reward.)
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To: Professional Engineer

Story by Leo K. Thorness

You've probably seen the bumper sticker. It depicts an American flag, accompanied by the words "These colors don't run."

I'm always glad to see this, because it reminds me of an incident from my confinement in North Vietnam at the Hao Lo prisoner of war camp, or the "Hanoi Hilton," as it became known.

Then a major in the U.S. Air Force, I had been captured and was imprisoned from 1967 to 1973. Our treatment had frequently been brutal.

After three years, however, the beatings and torture became less frequent. During the last year, we were allowed outside most days for a couple of minutes to bathe. We showered by drawing water from a concrete tank with a homemade bucket.

One day as we all stood by the tank, stripped of our clothes, a young Navy pilot named Mike Christian found the remnants of a handkerchief in a gutter that ran under the prison wall.

Mike managed to sneak the grimy rag into our cell and began fashioning it into a flag.

Over time we all loaned him a little soap, and he spent days cleaning the material. We helped by scrounging and stealing bits and pieces of anything he could use.

At night, under his mosquito net, Mike worked on the flag. He made red and blue from ground-up roof tiles and tiny amounts of ink, and painted the colors onto the cloth with watery rice glue. Using thread from his own blanket and a homemade bamboo needle, he sewed on stars.

Early in the morning a few days later, when the guards were not alert, he whispered loudly from the back of our cell, "Hey gang, look here."

He proudly held up this tattered piece of cloth, waving it as if in a breeze. If you used your imagination, you could tell it was supposed to be an American flag.

When he raised that smudgy fabric, we automatically stood straight and saluted, our chests puffing out, and more than a few eyes had tears.

About once a week the guards would strip us, run us outside and go through our clothing. During one of those shakedowns, they found Mike's flag. We all knew what would happen.

That night they came for him. They opened the cell door and pulled Mike out. We could hear the beginning of the torture before they even had him in the torture cell. They beat him most of the night.

About daylight they pushed what was left of him back through the cell door. He was badly broken. Even his voice was gone.

Within two weeks, despite the danger, Mike scrounged another piece of cloth and began another flag.

The Stars and Stripes, our national symbol, was worth the sacrifice to him.

Now, whenever I see the flag, I think of Mike and the morning he first waved that tattered emblem of a nation. It was then, thousands of miles from home, in a lonely prison cell, that he showed us what it is to be truly free.

3 posted on 06/13/2004 9:19:19 PM PDT by Professional Engineer (Ronald Reagan, a Patriot on loan from God, has gone to his reward.)
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To: snippy_about_it; SAMWolf; Valin; Darksheare; msdrby; All
Gotta have a NASA bit in here, right?

Where No Flag Has Gone Before:
Political and Technical Aspects of
Placing a Flag on the Moon

Anne M. Platoff
Hernandez Engineering Inc.
Houston, Texas

Awarded the Driver Award for the Best Paper Presented to the 26th Meeting
of the North American Vexillological Association
October 11, 1992 -- San Antonio, Texas

Prepared for
Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center
under contract NAS9-18263

August 1993

Abstract

The flag on the moon represents an important event in vexillological history. This paper examines the political and technical aspects of placing a flag on the moon, focusing on the first moon landing. During their historic extravehicular activity (EVA), the Apollo 11 crew planted the flag of the United States on the lunar surface. This flag-raising was strictly a symbolic activity, as the United Nations Treaty on Outer Space precluded any territorial claim. Nevertheless, there were domestic and international debates over the appropriateness of the event. Congress amended the agency's appropriations bill to prevent the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) from placing flags of other nations, or those of international associations, on the moon during missions funded solely by the United States. Like any activity in space exploration, the Apollo flag-raising also provided NASA engineers with an interesting technical challenge. They designed a flagpole with a horizontal bar allowing the flag to "fly" without the benefit of wind to overcome the effects of the moon's lack of an atmosphere. Other factors considered in the design were weight, heat resistance, and ease of assembly by astronauts whose space suits restricted their range of movement and ability to grasp items. As NASA plans a return to the moon and an expedition to Mars, we will likely see flags continue to go "where no flag has gone before."

Read the entire paper here.

4 posted on 06/13/2004 9:20:27 PM PDT by Professional Engineer (Ronald Reagan, a Patriot on loan from God, has gone to his reward.)
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To: Professional Engineer

Great post today we will always be greatful and love this great country,the men & women that have died to gives us this right deserve more than we can give.


5 posted on 06/13/2004 9:39:24 PM PDT by weldgophardline (God Bless the TROOPS and President BUSH)
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To: Diva Betsy Ross; Americanwolf; CarolinaScout; Tax-chick; Don W; Poundstone; Wumpus Hunter; ...



FALL IN to the FReeper Foxhole!



Good Monday Morning Everyone.
It's Flag Day at the Foxhole
Please come and see our first ever Guest Thread
Thank you for all your hard work



If you would like to be added to our ping list, let us know.

6 posted on 06/13/2004 9:49:44 PM PDT by snippy_about_it (Fall in --> The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul.)
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To: snippy_about_it; All
Fly your Flag proudly today until July 4th!! God Bless America and for all that our Flag Represents!

Title IV of the United States Code

I was once told that flags with the gold fringes around them are not true US flags representing the USA.  I'm not too sure whether it's true or not.

7 posted on 06/13/2004 9:59:34 PM PDT by Coleus (Roe v. Wade and Endangered Species Act both passed in 1973, Murder Babies/save trees, birds, algae)
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To: Professional Engineer
PE you've done an outstanding job for the Foxhole and made us proud. Thank you for agreeing to be our very first "guest" thread poster. By my calculations your thread is # 561 of our Foxhole Daily threads!


8 posted on 06/13/2004 10:04:19 PM PDT by snippy_about_it (Fall in --> The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul.)
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To: Professional Engineer; snippy_about_it; SAMWolf
Thanks for the presentation.

My colors may be a bit faded
and the winds have loosed a thread or two
But the Stars and Stripes still proudly fly
To receive their humble due.

9 posted on 06/13/2004 10:27:06 PM PDT by Diver Dave (Stay Prayed Up)
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To: Professional Engineer
Flag etiquette DO on the proper method to put a raise and lower a half masted flag: Raise it briskly all the way the peak, then lower ceremoniously to half mast. To lower, rise briskly again to the peak, then ceremoniously down.
10 posted on 06/13/2004 10:33:09 PM PDT by GATOR NAVY
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To: Professional Engineer; All
<===Mash This

Great job on the thread today PE. We may have to double your salary. ;-)

11 posted on 06/13/2004 10:43:10 PM PDT by SAMWolf (I'm as bored as a pacifist's pistol.)
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To: Coleus; All

FRINGE ON THE AMERICAN FLAG

Gold fringe is used on the National flag as an honorable enrichment only. It is not regarded as an integral part of the flag and its use does not constitute an unauthorized addition to the design prescribed by statutes.

Records of the Department of the Army indicate that fringe was used on the National flag as early as 1835 and its official use by the Army dates from 1895. There is no record of an Act of Congress or Executive Order which either prescribes or prohibits the addition of fringe, nor is there any indication that any symbolism was ever associated with it. The use of fringe is optional with the person or organization displaying the flag.

A 1925 Attorney General’s Opinion (34 Op. Atty. Gen 483) states:

"The fringe does not appear to be regarded as an integral part of the flag, and its presence cannot be said to constitute an unauthorized additional to the design prescribed by statute. An external fringe is to be distinguished from letters, words, or emblematic designs printed or superimposed upon the body of the flag itself. Under the law, such additions might be open to objection as unauthorized; but the same is not necessarily true of the fringe."

It is customary to place gold fringe on silken (rayon-silk-nylon) National flags that are carried in parades, used in official ceremonies, and displayed in offices, merely to enhance the beauty of the flag. The use of fringe is not restricted to the Federal Government. Such flags are used and displayed by our Armed Forces, veterans, civic and civilian organizations, and private individuals. However, it is the custom not to use fringe on flags displayed from stationary flagpoles and, traditionally, fringe has not been used on internment flags.


12 posted on 06/13/2004 10:49:05 PM PDT by snippy_about_it (Fall in --> The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul.)
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To: weldgophardline

Morning, weldgophardline.

"The raising of that flag on Suribachi guarantees a Marine Corps for the next 500 years."
Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal

13 posted on 06/13/2004 10:50:00 PM PDT by SAMWolf (I'm as bored as a pacifist's pistol.)
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To: Coleus

Morning Coleus

The flag of our nation is described and specified at law.1 Yet today more than one flag is in use in the United States-one is red, white and blue, and the other is red, white, blue and GOLD.

In our history the national flag changed a number of times. On June 15, 1775, the Continental Congress appointed General Washington to take "supreme command of the forces raised, and to be raised, in the defense of American liberty." A battle flag for this force was subsequently displayed on the first anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia in July 1777. A resolution passed by the Continental Congress on June 14, 1777 (Flag Day) describes the official national Flag for the United States of America.

It had thirteen stripes and stars.2 A Flag with fifteen stripes and stars, known as the 1795 Fort McHenry flag, was authorized by an Act of Congress and was flown during the War of 1812. This flag inspired Francis Scott Key to write "The Star-Spangled Banner." In March 1818 an Act of Congress returned the Flag to thirteen stripes with 20 stars and ordered the addition of one star for each new State, to take effect the 4th day of July following the admission of that State.

A gold fringed flag is a battle flag reserved to the General of the Army for use over military headquarters and to display at courts-martial. The Commander-In-Chief, as the civilian authority over a lawfully standing national militia or Army, may designate that flag's use elsewhere. This gives a president, when acting as Commander-In-Chief, power to place the government's battle flag wherever he wishes to establish jurisdiction of the military force.

In 1925, an interpretation of statute law by the Attorney General of the United States clarified the intent and purpose of gold fringes or adornments to the national Flag to be within the discretion of the president as Commander-In-Chief. "Placing of fringe on national flag, dimensions of flag, and arrangement of stars in the union are matters of detail not controlled by statute, but are within the discretion of President as Commander- In-Chief of Army and Navy." 3 Thus, a gold fringed flag, often seen upon a staff or flagpole with a gold eagle atop it, or with gold streamers or tassels, is NOT the lawful, or OFFICIAL, Flag of our Nation.

A gold fringed flag used widely by courts, schools, service organizations and private individuals is NOT a symbol of our constitutional republic, or national Union of States. It signifies a military jurisdictional presence.

One official difference between the two flags is that when the fringe is placed around the Flag it denotes a military battle flag, not a national Flag. Now the lawful status of a Citizen becomes important. For in a military jurisdiction, where the court-martial tribunal displays the fringed battle flag, it may impose criminal sanctions for issues involving contracts, without due process of law. In a Judicial Department court under the national Flag, as described in the Constitution for the United States of America, as well as in State Constitutions, due process must be observed and followed, with all the protection of Constitutional Law.

The Founding Fathers, through the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, secured the sovereignty of the States for WE THE PEOPLE. A flag of bordered design, like the fringed battle flag, denotes that the jurisdiction of the federal government is present. If the courtrooms in your State display gold fringed flags, who is exercising jurisdiction?

J. Krim Bohren


14 posted on 06/13/2004 10:53:08 PM PDT by SAMWolf (I'm as bored as a pacifist's pistol.)
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To: GATOR NAVY

Hi Sailor. :-)

Thanks for the etiquette on raising the flag briskly.

One of my pet peeves and I saw a lot of it this past week was people mis-using the term half-mast for half-staff. As I know it, on land it is half-staff on ships it is half-mast.


15 posted on 06/13/2004 10:53:22 PM PDT by snippy_about_it (Fall in --> The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul.)
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To: Diver Dave

Hi Diver Dave.


16 posted on 06/13/2004 10:53:44 PM PDT by snippy_about_it (Fall in --> The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul.)
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To: Diver Dave

Morning DD.

Like the poem, your work?


17 posted on 06/13/2004 10:54:24 PM PDT by SAMWolf (I'm as bored as a pacifist's pistol.)
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To: GATOR NAVY

Thanks Gator Navy.

I've seen the flag raised and lowered to Half staff improperly at schools a few times.


18 posted on 06/13/2004 10:57:57 PM PDT by SAMWolf (I'm as bored as a pacifist's pistol.)
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To: SAMWolf
yep - but I'm no poet by any stretch of the imagination.


19 posted on 06/13/2004 10:58:17 PM PDT by Diver Dave (Stay Prayed Up)
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To: SAMWolf; Coleus

I've seen this opinion too Sam. It appears to be an opinion held by some militia's and not actually true. I have the legal definition posted. The Gold Fringed flag was used at Reagan's funeral and I doubt we'd do that if it in anyway violated our flag.


20 posted on 06/13/2004 10:58:24 PM PDT by snippy_about_it (Fall in --> The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul.)
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To: snippy_about_it

That's why I but the author's name at the bottom. We report you decide. ;-)


21 posted on 06/13/2004 10:59:39 PM PDT by SAMWolf (I'm as bored as a pacifist's pistol.)
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To: Diver Dave

I think it's pretty good. Can I steal it and post it at the Dragon Fly's Lair?


22 posted on 06/13/2004 11:01:02 PM PDT by SAMWolf (I'm as bored as a pacifist's pistol.)
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To: SAMWolf
We report you decide. ;-)

LOL. Okay, you quote authors, I'll qoute statute. ;-)

23 posted on 06/13/2004 11:03:16 PM PDT by snippy_about_it (Fall in --> The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul.)
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To: SAMWolf

sure... be my guest.


24 posted on 06/13/2004 11:04:15 PM PDT by Diver Dave (Stay Prayed Up)
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To: snippy_about_it

I didn't say the guy was right, I just posted his opinion. Thanks for finding the statute. :-)


25 posted on 06/13/2004 11:04:22 PM PDT by SAMWolf (I'm as bored as a pacifist's pistol.)
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To: Diver Dave

Thanks.


26 posted on 06/13/2004 11:04:44 PM PDT by SAMWolf (I'm as bored as a pacifist's pistol.)
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To: snippy_about_it

I'm guilty-I always say half mast. But you're correct.


27 posted on 06/13/2004 11:08:33 PM PDT by GATOR NAVY
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To: SAMWolf

Well, I'll correct myself, it was an opinion by the Attorney General in 1925. Here's more. I guess it's a matter of opinion though there have been many court cases though none won.

Sentimental writers and orators sometimes ascribe meanings to the colors in the flag. The practice is erroneous, as are statements on this subject attributed to George Washington and other founders of the country.

From the book "Our Flag" published in 1989 by the House of Representatives...

"On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress passed a resolution authorizing a committee to devise a seal for the United States of America. This mission, designed to reflect the Founding Fathers' beliefs, values, and sovereignty of the new Nation, did not become a reality until June 20, 1782. In heraldic devices, such as seals, each element has a specific meaning. Even colors have specific meanings. The colors red, white, and blue did not have meanings for The Stars and Stripes when it was adopted in 1777. However, the colors in the Great Seal did have specific meanings. Charles Thompson, Secretary of the Continental Congress, reporting to Congress on the Seal, stated:

"The colors of the pales (the vertical stripes) are those used in the flag of the United States of America; White signifies purity and innocence, Red, hardiness & velour, and Blue, the color of the Chief (the broad band above the stripes) signifies vigilance, perseverance & justice."

Also this from a book about the flag published in 1977 by the House of Representatives...

"The star is a symbol of the heavens and the divine goal to which man has aspired from time immemorial; the stripe is symbolic of the rays of light emanating from the sun."

The quote below concerning gold fringe on the Flag is from the book "So Proudly We Hail, The History of the United States Flag" Smithsonian Institute Press 1981, by Wiliam R. Furlong and Byron McCandless.

"The placing of a fringe on Our Flag is optional with the person of organization, and no Act of Congress or Executive Order either prohibits the practice, according to the institute of Heraldry. Fringe is used on indoor flags only, as fringe on flags on outdoor flags would deteriorate rapidly. The fringe on a Flag is considered an 'honorable enrichment only', and its official use by the US Army dates from 1895. A 1925 Attorney General's Opinion states: 'the fringe does not appear to be regarded as an integral part of the Flag and its presence cannot be said to constitute an unauthorized addition to the design prescribed by statute. An external fringe is to be distinguished from letters, words, or emblematic designs printed or superimposed upon the body of the flag itself Under law, such additions might be open to objection as unauthorized; but the same is not necessarily true of the fringe.'"

The gold trim is generally used on ceremonial indoor flags that are used for special services and is believed to have been first used in a military setting. It has no specific significance that I have ever run across, and its (gold trim) use is in compliance with applicable flag codes and laws.


28 posted on 06/13/2004 11:10:50 PM PDT by snippy_about_it (Fall in --> The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul.)
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To: GATOR NAVY

LOL. I would expect being in the Navy as long as you have you would say half mast. Habit. ;-)

Geez this thread is starting to make me sound snippy!


29 posted on 06/13/2004 11:12:36 PM PDT by snippy_about_it (Fall in --> The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul.)
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To: snippy_about_it
The gold trim is generally used on ceremonial indoor flags that are used for special services and is believed to have been first used in a military setting.

99% of the flags I've seen with gold trim were used this way. I wasn't aware it was supposedly used in a military setting first.

30 posted on 06/13/2004 11:15:06 PM PDT by SAMWolf (I'm as bored as a pacifist's pistol.)
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To: SAMWolf
I still like it "plain" best!


31 posted on 06/13/2004 11:15:59 PM PDT by snippy_about_it (Fall in --> The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul.)
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To: SAMWolf; Professional Engineer

This is kind of fun isn't it Sam. Neither of us had to post tonight. We can go to bed early and sleep late!


32 posted on 06/13/2004 11:18:37 PM PDT by snippy_about_it (Fall in --> The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul.)
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To: snippy_about_it
We can go to bed early and sleep late!

Some of us can go to bed early. ;-)

Good night Snippy.

33 posted on 06/14/2004 12:49:48 AM PDT by SAMWolf (I'm as bored as a pacifist's pistol.)
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To: snippy_about_it
Good morning Snippy.


34 posted on 06/14/2004 1:11:02 AM PDT by Aeronaut ("Fellow Americans, here lies a graceful and a gallant man." --Vice President Dick Cheney)
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To: snippy_about_it

Good morning, Snippy and everyone at the Freeper Foxhole.


35 posted on 06/14/2004 3:07:10 AM PDT by E.G.C.
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To: snippy_about_it; SAMWolf; All
We are . . . well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.-2 Corinthians 5:8


Oh, how blessed is the promise
When our spirit is set free:
To be absent from the body
Means to live, O Lord, with Thee!

For the Christian, death is the doorway to Glory.


36 posted on 06/14/2004 4:47:04 AM PDT by The Mayor (God's call to a task includes His strength to complete it.)
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To: Professional Engineer

On This Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on June 14:
1736 Charles-Augustin de Coulomb physicist (formulated Coulomb's Law)
1805 Robert Anderson, Bvt Major General (Union Army), died in 1871
1811 Harriet Beecher Stowe author (Uncle Tom's Cabin)
1820 John Bartlett US, editor (compiled Familiar Quotations)
1855 Robert Marion La Follette Wisconsin, pres candidate (Progressive)
1856 Andrey Markov Russia, mathematician (Markov Chain)
1864 Alois Alzheimer Germany, psychiatrist/pathologist (Alzheimer Disease)
1868 Karl Landsteiner immunologist/pathologist (Nobel 1930)
1874 Edward Bowes radio host (Major Bowes Amateur Hour)
1908 John Scott Trotter Charlotte NC, orch leader (George Gobel Show)
1909 Burl Ives Hunt Ill, folk singer/actor (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof)
1917 Lash La Rue Gretna La, cowboy actor (Lash of the West, Wyatt Earp)
1918 Dorothy McGuire Omaha Neb, actress (Old Yeller, Summer Magic)
1919 Sam Wanamaker Chic Ill, actor (Holocaust, Competition, Raw Deal)
1921 Gene Barry NYC, actor (Bat Masterson, Name of the Game, Burke's Law)
1925 Pierre Salinger newsman (ABC)/press secretary (John Kennedy)
1928 Ernesto (Che) Guevara Latin American terrorist
1929 Cy Coleman [Seymour Kaufman], songwriter (Witchcraft, Sweet Charity)
1940 Benjamin Earl Davidson (football: Oakland Raiders defensive end: Super Bowl II)
1943 Muff Mervyn Winwood singer (Spencer Davis Group-Gimme Some Lovin)
1946 Donald Trump master builder (Trump Towers/Plaza/Castle)
1954 Will Patton Charleston SC, actor (No Way Out, Ballzaire the Cajun)
1969 Steffi Graf West Germany, tennis player (Grand Slam 1988)
2160 Montgomery Edward Scott Aberdeen, Scotland (Star Trek)



Deaths which occurred on June 14:
1801 Benedict Arnold Revolutionary War general/Traitor, dies in London
1864 Gen Leonidas Polk dies in battle
1962 Anna Sleasers first Boston Strangler victim
1977 Alan Reed actor (voice of Fred Flintstone), dies at 69
1982 Marjorie Bennett actress (Blossom-Dobie Gillis), dies at 87 of cancer
1986 Alan Jay Lerner Broadway librettist, dies in NY at 67
1986 Jorge Luis Borges Argentine author, dies in Geneva at 86
1986 Marlin Perkins, TV host (Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom), dies at 81
1994 Henry Mancini, composer (Pink Panther, Moon River), dies at 70



Reported: MISSING in ACTION
( Expanded with full Bios, history, & MIA report )

1965 GUARINO LAWRENCE N. NEWARK NJ.
[02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE IN 98]
1967 MC MANUS KEVIN J. BABYLON NY.
[02/18/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE IN 98]
1967 MECHENBIER EDWARD J. DAYTON OH.
[02/18/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE IN 98]
1969 GRACE JAMES W. NEW IBERIA LA.
1969 KAHLER HAROLD LINCOLN NE.
1971 WILSON RICHARD JR. CRAWFORDSVILLE AR.
1972 DAVIS FRANCIS J. MONTROSE IA.
1973 MC LEOD DAVID V. JR. JACKSONVILLE FL.


POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.


On this day...
1623 1st breach-of-promise lawsuit: Rev Gerville Pooley, Va files against Cicely Jordan. He loses
1642 1st compulsory education law in America passed by Massachusetts
1755 Publication of the first edition of Dr Johnson's "Dictionary"
1775 US Army founded
1777 Continental Congress adopts Stars & Stripes replacing Grand Union flag
1834 Hardhat diving suit patented by Leonard Norcross, Dixfield, Maine
1834 Sandpaper patented by Isaac Fischer Jr, Springfield, Vermont
1841 1st Canadian parliament opens in Kingston, Ontario
1846 California (Bear Flag) Republic proclaimed in Sonoma
1847 Bunson invents a gas burner. Lab teachers celebrate worldwide
1850 Fire destroys part of SF
1863 Battle of 2nd Winchester, Virginia
1864 Battle of Pine Mt, Gen Leonidas Polk killed in action
1870 All-pro Cincinnati Red Stockings suffer 1st loss in 130 games
1876 1st player to hit for the cycle (George Hall, Phila Athletics)
1881 Player piano patented by John McTammany, Jr, Cambridge, Mass
1900 Hawaiian Republic becomes the US Territory of Hawaii
1906 J H Metcalf discovers asteroid #600 Musa
1919 1st nonstop air crossing of Atlantic (Alcock & Brown) leaves Nfld
1923 Pres Harding is 1st US president to use radio, dedicating the Francis Scott Key memorial in Baltimore
1928 Republican Natl Convention, met in KC, nominated Herbert Hoover
1934 Max Baer KO's Primo Carnera in 11 for HW box champ in Long Island City
1935 Chaco War between Bolivia & Paraguay ends
1936 C Jackson discovers asteroid #1490 Limpopo
1938 Chlorophyll patented by Benjamin Grushkin
1938 Dorothy Lathrop wins the 1st Caldecott Medal (kid books author)
1940 German forces occupied Paris during WW II
1941 Ground broken for Boeing Plant II (ex-AFLC Plant 13) Wichita KS
1942 1st bazooka rocket gun produced Bridgeport Ct
1942 Walt Disney's "Bambi" is released
1944 1st B-29 raid against mainland Japan
1949 State of Vietnam formed
1951 1st commercial computer, UNIVAC 1, enters service at Census Bureau
1952 Keel laid for 1st nuclear powered sub the Nautilus

1954 Pres Eisenhower signs order adding words "under God" to the Pledge

1961 106øF, hottest temperature in San Francisco
1963 Valery Bykovsky in Vostok 5 orbits earth 81 times in 5 days
1967 Launch of Mariner V for Venus fly-by
1967 USSR launches Kosmos 166 for observation of Sun from Earth orbit
1976 "Gong Show" premieres on TV (syndication)
1980 E Bowell discovers asteroid #2937 Gibbs, #2938 Hopi & #3160 Angerhofer
1982 Argentina surrenders to Britain on Falkland Is, ends 74-day conflict
1985 Lebanese Shiite Moslem gunmen hijack TWA 847 after Athens' takeoff
1989 Ground breaking begins in Minn on the world's largest mall
1989 Nolan Ryan becomes 2nd pitcher to defeat all 26 teams
1991 Leroy Burrell of USA sets the 100m record (9.90) in NYC
1991 Space Shuttle STS 40 (Columbia 12) lands
1992 The Earth Summit concluded in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.(yawn)
1993 Tansu Ciller appointed 1st female premier of Turkey
2001 President Bush sparred with European leaders in Sweden over climate change, unwavering in his opposition to a global warming treaty.


Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Afghanistan: Mother's Day
US : Flag Day (1777)
Paraguay : Chaco Peace Day (1935)(Sunday)
Shelby, Mich : National Asparagus Festival(Thursday)
Great Britain : Queen's official birthday (National Day)(Saturday)
Belgium : Military Music Festival
US : Flag Week (Day 2)
National Men's Health Week (Day 2)
National Hug Holiday Week (Day 2)
US : National Patriots Month (thru July 4)
Turkey Lover's Month


Religious Observances
Christian : Feast of SS Valerius & Rufinus
Luth : Commem of Gregory of Nazianzus & Gregory of Nyssa, bishops
old RC, Luth, Ang : Comm of St Basil the Great, bishop of Cesarea, doc


Religious History
1715 Robert Norden became licensed pastor of the Baptist congregation in Prince George County -- the first Baptist church organized within the American colony of Virginia.
1940 Auschwitz, largest of the Nazi concentration camps, was first opened near Krakow, Poland. Before its liberation by the Allies in 1945, over 3 million Jews would be exterminated there.
1956 President Eisenhower signed a congressional resolution which added the words "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance. The last phrase now reads: '...one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.'
1966 The Vatican announced that its 'Index of Prohibited Books' (created by Pope Paul IV in 1557) had been abolished.
1984 The Southern Baptist Convention passed a resolution opposing the ordination of women for ministry in the Baptist Church.

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.


Thought for the day :
"I would die for my country...
but I would not let my country die for me."


Things To Do If You Ever Became An Evil Overlord...
When the rebel leader challenges you to fight one-on-one and asks, "Or are you afraid without your armies to back you up?" The correct reply is, "No, just sensible."


The World's Shortest Books...
Cooking Gourmet Dishes With Tofu


Dumb Laws...
Grand Haven Michigan:
No person shall throw an abandoned hoop skirt into any street or on any sidewalk, under penalty of a five- dollar fine for each offense.


A Cowboy's Guide to Life...
Tellin' a man to git lost and makin' him do it are two entirely different propositions.


37 posted on 06/14/2004 5:14:09 AM PDT by Valin (Hatred is the coward's revenge)
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To: Professional Engineer

You're a Grand Old Flag
by George M. Cohan


You're a grand old flag,
You're a high flying flag
And forever in peace may you wave.
You're the emblem of
The land I love.
The home of the free and the brave.
Ev'ry heart beats true
'neath the Red, White and Blue,
Where there's never a boast or brag.
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
Keep your eye on the grand old flag.

You're a grand old flag,
You're a high flying flag
And forever in peace may you wave.
You're the emblem of
The land I love.
The home of the free and the brave.
Ev'ry heart beats true
'neath the Red, White and Blue,
Where there's never a boast or brag.
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
Keep your eye on the grand old flag.


38 posted on 06/14/2004 5:20:28 AM PDT by Valin (Hatred is the coward's revenge)
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To: Professional Engineer
Awesome PE! Thanks for the ping!


39 posted on 06/14/2004 5:32:27 AM PDT by Diva Betsy Ross (It's not Bush's fault... it's the media's fault!)
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To: snippy_about_it; SAMWolf; Professional Engineer; Samwise; Matthew Paul; All

Good morning everyone!

40 posted on 06/14/2004 6:05:33 AM PDT by Soaring Feather (~The Dragon Flies' Lair~ Poetry and Prose~)
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To: Professional Engineer; SAMWolf; snippy_about_it

Great thread, PE. I learned from Fox and Friends this morning that today is also the 229th anniversary of the US Army. A big HOOAH to all current and former grunts!


41 posted on 06/14/2004 6:05:41 AM PDT by CholeraJoe (Nothing can be made totally foolproof, because fools are so darned ingenious.)
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To: snippy_about_it; bentfeather; Samwise

Good morning ladies. I've got some flags for you.


42 posted on 06/14/2004 6:18:48 AM PDT by Professional Engineer (Ronald Reagan, a Patriot on loan from God, has gone to his reward.)
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To: SAMWolf
We may have to double your salary. ;-)

All right! Up to $2 per decade.

43 posted on 06/14/2004 6:23:55 AM PDT by Professional Engineer (Vexillologist to the FReeper Foxhole)
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To: All
June 14th 1939:

Happy Birthday Mom!


44 posted on 06/14/2004 6:42:16 AM PDT by Johnny Gage (God Bless our Firefighters, Police, EMS, responders, and God Bless our Veterans)
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To: Aeronaut

Morning Aeronaut.


45 posted on 06/14/2004 6:44:19 AM PDT by SAMWolf (I'm as bored as a pacifist's pistol.)
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To: E.G.C.

Morning E.G.C. Cloudy again today.

We managed to make the ship tours without any rain at all yesterday even though the sun never showed up.


46 posted on 06/14/2004 6:45:22 AM PDT by SAMWolf (I'm as bored as a pacifist's pistol.)
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To: The Mayor

Morning Mayor.

Like that Eagle/Flag graphic.


47 posted on 06/14/2004 6:46:01 AM PDT by SAMWolf (I'm as bored as a pacifist's pistol.)
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To: Professional Engineer



    Time Out: 08:52
    KMG-365

48 posted on 06/14/2004 6:52:08 AM PDT by Johnny Gage (God Bless our Firefighters, Police, EMS, responders, and God Bless our Veterans)
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To: Valin
1940 German forces occupied Paris during WW II

It's just so french.

49 posted on 06/14/2004 6:52:13 AM PDT by SAMWolf (I'm as bored as a pacifist's pistol.)
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To: Diva Betsy Ross; Professional Engineer
Morning DBR.


50 posted on 06/14/2004 6:55:23 AM PDT by SAMWolf (I'm as bored as a pacifist's pistol.)
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