On improper flag displays
June 15, 2007Lewis flags those with improper displays
By Zandy Dudiak, Staff Writer
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Sometimes, Cal Lewis embarrasses his wife and children with his love and respect for the American flag.
“I’ll stop at people’s homes and tell them they have the flag improperly displayed,” Lewis says. “Often, they’re just ignorant to the fact.”
Once, with the family along, Lewis pulled over his car on Frankstown Road in Penn Hills after seeing a flag displayed incorrectly. The resident was not home but Lewis did his patriotic duty.
He left a note.
Another time, he called the U.S. Army after a Penn State football game to inform the sergeant in charge that the ROTC color guard had reversed the order of the U.S. and Pennsylvania flags. Even though the game was nationally televised, Lewis was the only person to spot the mistake.
This is National Flag Week, a time when citizens are encouraged to display the flag. Flag Day, which is celebrated tomorrow, June 14, commemorates the day the Continental Congress adopted the stars and stripes as the official flag of the United States.
Lewis, who joined the Army in 1971 and plans to retire on June 24 as a master sergeant with the U.S. Army Reserves, says he has been into flags “as long as I can remember.” His father served in World War II and he grew up with patriotism flowing in his veins.
In his other role, as a U.S. history teacher at Woodland Hills High School in Churchill, he has the chance to share that pride in country with his students.
Lewis spent Monday and Tuesday this week teaching the same closing lesson he does each year.
The final two days, when students generally are counting the minutes until the last bell rings, those in Lewis’ classroom are counting to make sure there are 13 folds — one for each of the original U.S. colonies — as they learn to prepare a flag for storage.
Armed with yardsticks instead of rifles, two students serve as color guards as Lewis has others carry flags in the order in which they are to be displayed.
As the lesson unfurls, the students learn about flag history and etiquette.
He’s found students are eager to learn about the flag — his personal trademark. His classroom is decorated with flags he’s collected for each of the original colonies, colonial flags, military and state flags.
“Being in the room throughout the year, the students learn respect for the flag,” Lewis says.
His lessons touch home as he points out some common mistakes people make when displaying the flag.
“I give the kids all kinds of situations,” Lewis says. “It’s part of being a good citizen.”
For instance, as he was headed home to Washington Township, Lewis noticed that the Arby’s on Route 286 in Plum did not have the flag illuminated at night, as required. After he enlightened the management, the restaurant lit up the stars and stripes.
Another time, he spotted the McDonald’s flag flying above Old Glory at the restaurant on Northern Pike in Monroeville. The flag order was flipped quicker than a fast-food burger.
And he pulled rank early one morning when he saw an elementary school in Monroeville flying the flag upside down — a recognized emergency signal. Serving with the Pennsylvania National Guard at the time, Sgt. Lewis pulled into the parking lot and asked his fellow educators if they were, indeed, in distress that day.
When the late U.S. District Judge Gerald Weber ordered the merger of five local school districts in 1981, some of the schools flew the flag upside down in protest at the start of the new school year in the New District, as it was called before it claimed the name Woodland Hills.
“Not at my school,” says the then-Turtle Creek resident, who made sure Swissvale High School did the right thing.
The United States Code spells out how to give proper respect to our nation’s symbol of freedom. Title 36, Chapter 10 of the code states, “the flag represents a living country and is itself considered a living thing.”
The flag should never touch the ground or floor, or be flown in bad weather unless it is an all-weather flag.
Old Glory should always be allowed to fall free and never be used to carry, store or delivery anything.
When covering a casket, the stars should be at the head and over the left shoulder.
Lewis says one of the myths students believe is that once a flag touches the ground, it should be burned. That isn’t true.
Other questions arise concerning when to fly the flag at half staff. Only the U.S. president or state governor can order a flag flown at half staff.
On Memorial Day, he says the flag should be raised to the top of the pole, then lowered to half staff until noon. Then the flag is raised to wave in the wind the rest of the day.
When it comes to patriotic decorating, there are some things that go too far, such as napkins and paper plates with a flag design. Because they are disposable, Lewis says throwing them away is akin to “defacing the flag.”
Lewis reminds students that when the Star Spangled Banner is played, they should remove their hats, place their hands over their hearts and stand facing either the flag or music if the flag is not visible.
Lewis says he has never had a student who didn’t stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.
One time, though, a transfer student from McKeesport wouldn’t stand — until Lewis told him that some fellow soldiers who had completed basic training with him had been killed in Vietnam. He asked the student to stand out of respect for them and he did every day after that.
For his annual yearbook staff photo, Lewis brings his own flag for the background.
And he always carries a small copy of the U.S. Constitution and a booklet, “Our Flag,” in his sports coat pocket, under his flag lapel pin, next to his heart.
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