Remember Cathy and her husband, who encountered resistance trying to display the US Flag with the Marine Corps emblem (posts here and here) in support of their son? Well, this one goes down as a victory for them:

To the PineCrest Board, Residents of PineCrest and our Supporters

Today we received a letter from the Board stating “ We understand that there are no official penalties for etiquette violations. Accordingly, the Board has decided at this time not to take any action against the flag with the Marine Corp endorsement.”

While we are gratified with the outcome we continue to be more than miffed by the process used to get to this point.

We continue to believe that, had it not been for the exposure given to this issue by the press, this board would have undoubtedly followed the directives of an earlier statement made by its President on TV that “the rules are the rules and we intend to enforce the rules.” We believe that this unyielding and strict interpretation of the Bylaws would have led to an immediate assessment of fines. If indeed this Board felt that it was on firm, and defensible, legal and moral grounds then it should have maintained its position and continued to respond to the press rather than issue repeated “no comments.”

As we have said to the press a number of times, we are not at all willing to concede that this Board ever had any authority to enforce etiquette issues involving an American Flag. Even if such enforcement capabilities did exist, that does not mean that this Board should have attempted such an action at a time of war, especially when it so directly affects a Marine Mom whose son is engaged in the Sunni Triangle in defense of our country.

We hope that our actions will serve as a warning to any other similarly minded Boards that they should tread lightly where issues of the American Flag are concerned. Even if these Boards believe that they have the authority to order its removal – they should simply have a meeting and vote to approve specific flags in specific locations. That apparently is what this Board eventually did – and it is something it should have done from the beginning. I wish that your support of a resident whose son is in a combat area was as strong as your support of a literal interpretation of the Bylaws.

We received many calls, letters and, even mementos from current and past vets. These include veterans from all four services with ranks ranging from Private to Brigadier General. Not a single one contacting us suggested that we remove this flag. To those PineCrest community vets who indicated to the board that they were displeased with this flag – I am more than disappointed with the level of callousness you displayed for the emotional wellbeing of a military family and I find it difficult to believe such a disregard for the feelings of a Marine mom with a son in combat would exist in any of our veterans.

We want to express our heartfelt appreciation for the support of so many who have graciously contacted us with words of encouragement. This support came both within the PineCrest community and also externally from emails, drive-bys, and phone calls. The many donations that we received from these sources will be used exclusively to send additional packages to our troops in the field.

We especially want to thank Mr. Charles Lindberg for his very supportive phone call. For those of you who are not aware of this person, Mr. Lindberg is the last living Marine who helped to plant the original flag on Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima in WWII. He is a Silver Star recipient for his actions on Iwo. The importance of his call telling us that we absolutely must continue to fly this flag cannot be overestimated.

This may be the end of this specific episode, but it should not be the end of our message.

Americans made a big mistake 40 years ago in how we treated our men and women in uniform. That mistake has largely been corrected and most Americans realize that the troops in the field are not responsible for political decisions and must be supported. But that first step, however important, is not enough. The families left behind need and deserve your support too.

May no soldier go unloved
May no soldier walk alone
May no soldier be forgotten
Until they all come home

Semper Fi,

Michael De Vita
Catherine Andreacchio


UUURRRRAHH, Cathy and Michael!