The American flag represents a living country.

It’s the middle of the night as the small American Flag hangs wet and limp in the half-light of the new Auburn Wallmart’s parking lot. Nobody seems to care.

The Star Fort, McHenry in Baltimore Harbor, the United States Capitol and the Arizona Memorial where the bomb-blasted USS Arizona still sleeps in her watery grave are the only three places that are allowed by custom and law to fly the American flag at night without special lighting.

Sam Walton might have cared back in 1982 when his corporation celebrated “made in USA” products. Now, most everything at Walmart is made in China, and the commercial traffic on “Main Street USA?” has dwindled. Sam’s passed on now.

A few weeks back I talked to two managers at Walmart and asked them very politely to take the flag down at night or at least properly illuminate it. They asked me if I was a veteran. I said I was. My family goes back to the beginnings of our Republic and beyond. I think I have the right to ask that the American flag be flown properly.

Walmart has what they call the Wall of Honor, with images of veterans. Is it a marketing ploy, like the salesman who is your best friend as they press you to buy something from them?

Walmart started as a U.S. corporation, but today is one of a group of corporations that owe no allegiance to America. They exist for the profit of the shareholders.

If you fly the American flag, do so correctly. The people who fought and died for America and the American flag deserve at least that.

– Wes Prichard