May 29, 2007
Veterans' Graves Desecrated
Many of us spent Memorial Day weekend working around the house, at the lake, or having barbecues with friends and family. Many of us did not stop to give a thought to those whose deaths on the battlefield ensured that we can live the free lives we enjoy today. However, it's better to give them no thought at all than to allow bile and hatred of those same dead patriots spill over in the following manner:
ORCAS ISLAND, Wash. — Vandals burned dozens of small American flags that decorated veterans' graves for Memorial Day and replaced many of them with hand-drawn swastikas, authorities said Monday.
Forty-six flag standards were found empty and another 33 flags were in charred tatters Sunday in the cemetery, authorities said. Swastikas drawn on paper appeared where 14 of the flags had been.
Members of the American Legion on this island off Washington's northwest coast replaced the burned flags with new ones Sunday afternoon.
The vandals struck again on Memorial Day after a guard left at dawn, the San Juan County sheriff's office said. This time, the vandals left 33 of the hand-drawn swastikas.
"This is not an act of free speech. This is a crime," Sheriff Bill Cumming said in a statement released Monday afternoon.
Sheriff's department officials declined to comment further on Monday.
Apparently the freedoms our soldiers procure for us at the cost of their lives include the freedom to be vile and offensive toward their memory.
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