Flag Flown Round The World

My heart has always shown deep respect for good old boys…those Southern gentlemen who take up arms. They all seem to have that disarming smile.They smile best when depositing Yankee money. Their sweetest grins come when anyone takes them as fools.

Doc Lovy writes (Combat Surgeon in Vietnam) of two of our Southern born medics…who had a penchant for flying flags. God loves a patriot. However, a Southern gentleman often flys a different flag. Hence we had a controversy. Not everyone enjoyed their choice of flags.

Doctor Andrew Lovy balanced his love of truth with a sense of cultural fairness. However, that brazen flag had to be removed from its strategic place, near the medical aid station.

Our medics protested to no avail. They insisted it was merely a state flag. However, as I will explain later…this flag was undoubtedly the ‘Stars and Bars!’

The Southern boys and I were somewhat at odds over an incident that happened before our deployment. Lets just say we were at best professionally cordial.

I was shocked when they came to me, in our final days, with a present. They gave this Maine Yankee…The Flag. A peace offering doesn’t get any better than that! That flag was the only memorabilia that I took home from the war.

What do you do with a battle sized Confederate flag in the great State of Maine? Well, I had to find my flag a good home. Near Tip Top (a mountain landmark in Newport, Maine) I knew of a gracious Southern lady. She had married and dutifully moved to the cold North with her husband.

When I presented her with that folded flag…she beamed from ear to ear. My gift secured a lifelong friend. Random acts of kindness have always been my trademark. Life was good.

A few days later, I was summoned to step outside to discuss some urgent business. It was in the long driveway that I looked upon a committee of the local citizenry. They had a bone to pick with me.

My new Southern Lady friend had run the Stars and Bars up her flag pole. It could be seen for miles. Word was out that I had given it to her. The committee turned out to be a potential lynch mob!

In the heat of the moment, I did the only honorable thing I could do. I had to blame this craziness on that poor deranged Southern lady. Hell, I didn’t think anyone was stupid enough to fly that damned flag in our great State of Maine!

My vehement denial of responsibility superficially satisfied the comittee. However, they had also heard of my penchant for mischief. They parted with a stern warning to not pull any more antics…or they would send my body South.

Currahees…I laid low for a while. That flag had the same universal reaction as it flew round the world. I will leave the flag flying to the good old boys.