Allen Thornwell is a 29-year-old Marine veteran who was working at Time Warner Cable in North Carolina. We say “was” because, as of last week, he is no longer associated with the company. Last Monday — Memorial Day — Thornwell did what any veteran would do by lowering the flag on his employer’s property to half-staff. But that patriotic gesture did not sit well with company management.

According to the Charlotte Observer, “A manager at the placement service that arranged the vet’s job at Time Warner Cable in Charlotte told him that the company was disturbed by Thornwell’s ‘passion for the flag and (his) political affiliation.’” Consequently, Thornwell was given the boot.

For those who argue that because the exchange took place on private property Thornwell should have asked permission, the most critical question is: What can kind of employer fires a veteran over patriotic symbolism? As Thornwell put it, “I don’t know what kind of moral compass you need to fire a veteran on Memorial Day for lowering the flag.” Each Memorial Day, we see more and more it’s not just flags that are being lowered, but standards as well.