About five years ago I decided to get "patriotic" and wear an American flag pin in my lapel. I continue to do so. However, there is one variation on this practice. I wear my flag pin upside down as a sign of distress, as a sign of serious national emergency.
Since we invaded Iraq in 2003, over 4,400 American servicemen/women have been killed in combat, not to mention the dead Americana and Iraqi civilians. In Afghanistan, over 1330 American servicemen/women have died, since the start of that longest-in-American-history war.
I am appalled that our country continues to behave as if we are not engaged in war. There is no draft, as there was in the 1960s and 1970s. People clamor for tax cuts in the face of wars that will ultimately cost billions of dollars when the final totals are in. Troops return with PTSD and brain damage and have poor medical care awaiting them stateside. The World Series goes on.
Therefore, the least I can do is honor our servicemen and declare that there is a national state of distress and emergency. My flag pin will be upside down until all our troops are home.
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