Most of us probably cannot remember another time when so many people were flying American flags
By: Ruth Luse
Most of us probably cannot remember another time when so many people were flying American flags.
The demand for flags, following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York City’s World Trade Center and Washington, D.C.’s Pentagon, has been tremendous, so much so that many area stores ran out of supplies a few days after the tragedies.
So has Hopewell Valley American Legion Post 339, according to member David Lowe. He said Monday the post is completely out of its 3-by-5-foot banners.
Mr. Lowe, on behalf of Post 339, visited Hopewell Elementary School Thursday and donated some of the post’s 12-by-18-inch flags to the school for use at the school picnic, which was canceled, but will be rescheduled.
Flags also were donated, Mr. Lowe said, to Valley senior citizens at a picnic held Thursday in Washington Crossing State Park.
Post 339 member Joe Kianka reported Monday that four local men worked hard and swiftly last week to reinstall the American flags on Broad Street. They are Darren Williamson, Jeffrey Vanderwater, Rick Kuntz and Mickey Toth. The flags had been taken down for the fall/winter months only a short time ago.
The flags-on-Broad-Street project began during the Persian Gulf War, better known as Operation Desert Shield/Operation Desert Storm, in late 1990. That conflict began in August 1990, when Iraqi forces invaded and occupied Kuwait. The conflict culminated in fighting in January and February 1991 between Iraq and an international coalition of forces led by the United States. By the end of the war, the coalition had driven the Iraqis out of Kuwait.

