Of Flags and Controversies

Six years ago I had the pleasure of serving in the Kosovo Force, during which time I was stationed at Camp Bondsteel. While living there the question posed below confronted me. In light of recent events surrounding what the Confederate flag respresents, I repost for your consideration.

Should a U.S. Soldier be allowed to fly a Mexican flag from his porch on a forward military base?

Now, many of you will, no doubt, have reflexive responses to this question. I really want to read your comments, and I am very curious about their variety.

Actual Mexican flag flown from barracks at Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo

Before you type out your answer, consider these additional thought-provoking questions:

  • What if the flag was Canadian or British?
  • Should the command craft a policy letter prohibiting offending flags?
  • How would you deem which flags are prohibited, given the fact that the forward base is home to seven NATO nations?
  • Would state flags be subject to the same regulations?
  • What about athletic team flags?

The original responses can be read at my old blogger site.

I followed up the query post with my own thoughts:

This was a can of worms. I will attempt to pack the slimy things back in and seal it up nicely without getting any slime on me. Many good points were made.

First, my assessment of the situation.

There is undeniably a lot of antipathy in the United States towards Mexican immigrants. No need to open a new can of worms with a lengthy explanation on that claim. But Canadians aren’t immigrating by the hundreds of thousands, and even if they were, it wouldn’t be very apparent, given their language, customs, and complexion.

Having said that, I personally love the contributions of Mexican culture to our own. I just enjoyed a scrumptious meal of: one beef enchilada, one taco, and some strange potato dish that claimed to be part of the Mexican fare. That meal — a refreshing change at the Camp Bondsteel D-Fac — would have been unlikely but for the Mexican influence in the United States.

Alright, first is the point oft-made that Army Soldiers should pay homage to one flag. Agreed. But flying another doesn’t have to take away from the fidelity rendered to Old Glory, does it? The real issue behind some of the comments is that of sameness.

Army leaders —leaders of any organization, for that matter, but especially Army types —can’t stand individuality. They want to look over their dominions and say, “what a nice, tidy, uniform bunch of people I have.”

Anytime a leader makes a general rule to address a specific situation, he is often overreaching and overreacting.

Better the attitude, I think, to (pardon the bumper sticker phrase) “celebrate diversity.” A leader should be saying, “Look here, I have 1500 troops that represent dozens of cultures, religions, language preferences, and sports teams, and we are all in unity as to the mission.

“Unity of Effort,” is, in fact, one of KFOR’s mottoes. Not “Unity of Thought” or “Unity of Appearance.”

Some in the Army can’t get past their fetish for conformity in appearance. The uniform is one thing, but there are many who can’t stand anything that deviates from their preferences or point of view.

So the Soldier who wants the Mexican flag taken down may be the most patriotic person in the force, and he may have friends who have died in combat, and he may send his grandmother flowers every week. But on the homefront he’s the same guy who wants me trim back my bushes because they’re unsightly, or wants me to wash my car more often because it makes the neighborhood look trashy, or wants me to wear a tie to church because he doesn’t want others to get the impression that we all, God forbid, think differently.

Flying a flag of your choice doesn’t impede the mission.

Let’s not confuse tacky with right. It may be tacky to fly a Mexican flag. Hell, I lived in downtown Oakland (during my Kosovo tour), not exactly the most military-friendly locale in the state. and fly an Army flag from my front porch. Most of my neighbors, and the radicals who pass by my busy street daily, think that’s tacky. Let ‘em.

I think Army leaders would be more comfortable if Mexican flags weren’t flown, and they wouldn’t have to worry about it. It’s reminiscent of a dialogue from the should-be classic The Breakup.

“Do you want me to do the dishes?”

“I want you to want to do the dishes.”

Instead of trying to enforce a cult-like fanaticism of their preference for “Unity of Appearance,” they should spend a little time instilling the values that lead one to want to fly the American Flag. Then they can worry about regulating its size, fabric, etc.

So here’s a recap:

  • Should a U.S. Soldier be allowed to fly a Mexican flag from his porch on a forward military base? YES
  • What if the flag was Canadian or British? YES and YES
  • Should the command craft a policy letter prohibiting offending flags? NO
  • How would you deem which flags are prohibited, given the fact that the forward base is home to seven NATO nations? WHATEVER IS IN EXISTING MILITARY CODE: HATE GROUPS ETC., WOULD BE BANNED
  • Would state flags be subject to the same regulations? What about athletic team flags? EVERYTHING GOES, EXCEPT FOR LAKERS AND YANKEES

A final question to tie this all back to the current controversy. Should American Soldiers be allowed fly a Confederate flag?

A flag can mean a lot of things. The Confederate flag certainly does. But given that it was raised in opposition to the very existence of our Consitution and Union, which all Soldiers swear to uphold and defend, this Soldier says, “no.”