If the American flag is not important, why run it up a flagpole in the first place? If the city of Bethlehem has other higher priorities at the moment, such as Christmas decorations, why not put the flag away for a few weeks instead of desecrating it?
That's what was bothering Baron Chase, 59, a Bethlehem native and a Navy veteran with a long history of patriotic activities, so he asked somebody at City Hall about it.
"City Hall doesn't raise and lower the flags any more like they used to," he said, and the flags are left at the top of flagpoles all night without being illuminated, as required by law. "The Parks Department told me they're more concerned with Christmas lights."
Chase did not catch the name of the person who said that, so I called Ralph Carp, director of the department, but he was not available and I was referred to the business manager, who did not call back by deadline time.
I also got in touch with Freddie Ramirez Jr., director of the Northampton County Department of Veterans Affairs. "I have no comment on that," he said.
Still, it seemed unlikely that city employees could be too lazy to take down flags at night, or, if they knew they were not going to take them down, were too stupid to refrain from putting them up in the first place, or, if they wanted to leave them up all night, were too inept to arrange lighting.
Therefore, skeptical of what Chase had told me, I visited two of the locations that bothered him the most — City Hall and the city's Revolutionary War Memorial, which includes the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the burial sites of more than 500 sick or wounded soldiers who died at a Bethlehem hospital while serving in the Continental Army during the American Revolution.
It distresses me to report that Chase was right. At the memorial, there were four small flags at ground level and a large American flag at the top of a big white flagpole. The area was illuminated only by a street lamp across the street and the large flag was especially dark.
City Hall was even more depressing. There are three big flagpoles just 30 paces from the entrance and the middle one carried Old Glory. I could not make out the other two, but assumed they were state and city flags. In any case, all three flags were in the dark, with not even a street light nearby. These were some of the most forlorn flags I ever saw. I know city employees are terribly overworked, but they cannot take a few seconds at quitting time to walk 30 paces and take down the flags?
Nearby, however, there was a big Christmas tree with hundreds of lights and a Christian creche guarded by a beautiful angel and illuminated by floodlights.
Although I'm a fanatic about separation of church and state, I'm willing to make some allowances during the Christmas season for a city named Bethlehem — provided city authorities are similarly accommodating when it comes to other religious observances, such as Ramadan.
I am not a flag-waving fanatic, but I share Chase's concerns when it comes to desecrations as blatant as those in Bethlehem.
A federal law, the National Flag Code, stipulates how the Stars and Stripes must be displayed, although criminal penalties were ruled unconstitutional in 1989. (I supported that ruling as applied to normal people, although I think it could have excluded government officials and employees. A few months in jail for desecrating a flag would do them a world of good.)
Section 174 notes it is customary for the American flag to be taken down at or before sunset. "However, when a patriotic effect is desired, the flag may be displayed 24 hours a day if properly illuminated during the hours of darkness," the law says.
It must be amusing to hear Bethlehem's officials tell citizens how they have a duty to pay taxes and obey other laws when the city itself is contemptuous of the law.
Chase, who now lives in Hellertown, joined the Navy in 1971 after growing up in Bethlehem and served until he retired with a disability in 1989. He was an aviation mechanic aboard aircraft carriers (petty officer first class) and had combat duty in the 1983 crisis in Lebanon.
He is a life member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion, and for 10 years was a member of those organizations' honor guards, appearing at the funerals of military people and police officers around the Lehigh Valley.
That's why he was upset by the attitude of the city employee when he asked about the lack of illumination of flags left up all night at City Hall, the Revolutionary War Memorial and at other memorials in Bethlehem. "The woman said the Christmas lights have priority," he said. "I'm a Christian, but I think these memorials should have priority."
In Bethlehem, meanwhile, the City Hall carolers were in rehearsal: "'Tis the season to be unpatriotic, fa la la la la … la la la la."
paul.carpenter@mcall.com 610-820-6176
Paul Carpenter's commentary appears Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
