“Sure I wave the American flag. Do you know a better flag to wave? Sure I love my country with all her faults. I’m not ashamed of that, never have been, never will be.”
– John Wayne
10,000 living sailors
The Field of Honor I
The Field of Honor II
The Field of Honor III …
separate but equal … equally courageous
war games
According to Wikipedia, William Henry Johnson
was a United States Army soldier who performed heroically in the first African American unit of the U.S. Army to engage in combat in World War I. On watch in the Argonne Forest on May 14, 1918, he fought off a German raid in hand-to-hand combat, killing multiple German soldiers and rescuing a fellow soldier while experiencing 21 wounds, in an action that was brought to the nation’s attention by coverage in the New York World and The Saturday Evening Post later that year. On June 2, 2015 he was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Barack Obama in a posthumous ceremony at the White House.
However, Wikipedia also seems to say that Henry Johnson fought off the Germans with the help of Needham Roberts, who also was severely wounded and also received the Purple Heart and the Croix de Guerre.
According to the Library of Congress President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed a national Flag Day in 1916 to commemorate the 1777 adoption of the Stars and Stripes. You can read more about the history of Flag Day at USFlag.org
the original
Flag Day 1918 at Washington Monument
unidentified soldier
From the Library of Congress: living Stars and Stripes from the December 9, 1917 issue of The New-York Times; at least as of May 12, 1918 the New York Tribune devoted a page of its weekly graphic section to servicemen who had died here, over there, and possibly on the way to Europe (the Library doesn’t seem to have the two Sunday issues before May 12th) – May 12, May 19, May 26, it continued at least until June 23; black troops with inserts of the two medal recipients from the Tribune on June 9, 1918; the war games from the May 26, 1918 issue of the Tribune; 140th anniversary; Flag Day 1918 at the Monument; the unidentified soldier, who does remind me of Henry Johnson; certificate of service
I saw the quote attributed to John Wayne and sort of thought of the United States as a nation of rights and responsibilities.
a flag among flags
