The Patriot Post® · The Flag Still Flies

In a most fitting prelude to Memorial Day on Monday, a property management company in Oshkosh, WI, has just had its tail tucked between its legs and been sent squalling after threatening to evict an Army veteran for his display of the American flag.

Midwest Realty Management announced late Thursday afternoon that Charlie Price, a former combat engineer who served tours of duty in Iraq and Kosovo, will be able to continue to display The Stars and Stripes in his window after the company had previously told him he would be asked to leave if it wasn’t taken down by Tuesday.

The apartment complex, you see, had a strict policy that prohibited its residents from displaying flags, banners or political and religious materials. But after an outcry that had resulted in over 3,000 emails and almost as many telephone calls in just two days earlier this week, not to mention the ire of Veterans’ groups and death threats to the owner, property manager Randy Rich announced yesterday, “They won. We compromised.”

It seems that when Charlie Price, who is now 28 and served in the Army for eight years, rented his apartment, he was hardly looking for trouble. But the American flag, and the things it stands for, are pretty sacred to him so he and his wife displayed Old Glory in an east-facing window.

The flag was put there, Charlie said, because it faces Arlington cemetery, the base in Germany where he was stationed, and both Iraq and Afghanistan where his “brothers” continue to defend freedom.

But he was told to take the flag down, well out of public view, because he had agreed to the Midwest Realty requirements that included the restrictions. The company explained, “This policy was developed to insure that we are fair to everyone as we have many residents from diverse backgrounds. By having a blanket policy of neutrality we have found that we are less likely to offend anyone and the aesthetic qualities of our apartment communities are maintained.”

Well, in the American spirit, Charlie and his wife Dawn never dreamed such a rule would include the country’s flag and when they were told to get it down or get out, they not only balked, they took a stand.

Dawn said the federal Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2006 states no condominium or real estate management company can stop someone from flying the flag but that the law doesn’t apply to renters.

So the Prices figured, “The best way to fight this isn’t getting an eviction and going after these people in court. That’s just going to cost us a lot of time, energy and money,” said Dawn. “We don’t want to fight the eviction,” she said. “We know we’d lose.”

But wait! Talk of the Price’s dilemma began to spread. A television station heard that the Army vet was having to take his flag down and, to be candid, there then came a rain of such fiery hell it is a wonder employees at Midwest Realty Management now even dare to answer the phone.

According to television station WBAY, the ABC affiliate in Green Bay and northwest Wisconsin, one email to the company reads, “I pray you get cancer and your kids have autism.” Another says, “I will do my best in making sure everybody I know hears about the pure hatred you have towards this great nation.”

Well, the station also reported that some of the clearly-rattled Midwest Realty employees were “scared to answer the phone or open their apartment doors.” By yesterday afternoon the company found itself in much the same position as oil company BP is stopping the oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico, saying, “This has gone too far!”

So now the company has issued an apology to the Price family and has also said there is a change in the flag policy. “It was never our intention to hurt the Prices or disrespect what Mr. Price and all veterans have sacrificed for each and every one of us,” Rich said. “We have learned from this situation and will be revising our policy to allow our residents to honor America and display the American flag in a manner similar to the Prices.”

But, around the country, the story isn’t quite over. No, what appears to be a growing number think the so-called “fairness” objectives have gone too far. Many worry “political correctness” is undermining our beliefs. There is a deep feeling that the flag, a symbol of freedom, is under attack.

On Monday the nation will celebrate Memorial Day – a tribute to those like Charlie Price who didn’t come home to an apartment in Oshkosh – but later this year many voters will go to the polls and some will be intent on making sure, in an indirect way, that the flag will still proudly wave.