90-year-old Medal of Honor winner Colonel Van Barfoot will get to keep his 21-foot flagpole in his front yard.
According to a spokesman for Senator Mark Warner, The Sussex Square Homeowner’s Association has dropped its request to remove it. The association has also agreed to drop any legal action against Barfoot, releasing this statement, “The Sussex Square Homeowners Association Board has agreed to withdraw legal action previously announced for Friday, December 11, 2009 at 5:00pm against Colonel Van T. Barfoot regarding the flagpole located on his property.”
They would not comment any further on the matter. Neither would a spokesman for Senator Mark Warner.
CBS 6 also went to Colonel Barfoot’s home tonight and spoke with him. But he did not want to comment on camera.
The Sussex Square Homeowner’s Association had threatened to take Barfoot to court if he did not remove the pole from outside his Henrico home by Friday. It claimed the pole violated neighborhood guidelines.
I know we have heard a lot of these stories over the last few years, but I have to say this one sticks in my craw more than most. OK, I get that he can have a flag, as long as it is at an angle and attached to his house. Is this just down right crazy or what? Why can’t he have a free standing flag pole in his own yard? Why is it that the Homeowners Associations across this great nation insist on telling the people of this nation in what manner they can be patriotic? Should patriotism be governed by such an association? I THINK NOT!
In a time when so many are attacking our country in so many forms, should the people of this country not have a right to stand up and say that they are proud of their country and proud of their service to this country? And if there is no direct LAW or rule stating that a free standing pole is illegal, why did they deny his request? Just because a few people may think that something is “not aesthetically appropriate” does not mean that others will feel the same way. To me, the flying of the American Flag, no matter how it is displayed, is a beautiful thing!
There is no provision in the community’s rules expressly forbidding flagpoles, Barfoot’s daughter said. But she said the board ruled against her father’s fixture and ordered it removed in July, deciding that free-standing flag poles are not aesthetically appropriate. Short flag stands attached to porches dot the community.
“Dad sort of feels like this is the end,” said Margaret Nicholls, Barfoot’s daughter, who lives a few doors away. But she said this morning that she and her husband are attempting to generate support for her father’s cause, a flag-raising rite that he has undertaken for most of his life.
Barfoot received the Medal of Honor on the battlefield during World War II in Italy and fought as well in the Korean and Vietnam wars. A portion of a highway in rural Mississippi, his native state, was named in his honor this fall. A building at McGuire Veterans Hospital in Richmond also carries his name.
Barfoot began regularly flying the flag on Veteran’s Day this year despite the Sussex Square board’s decision.
He said in November that not flying the flag would be a sacrilege to him.
“There’s never been a day in my life or a place I’ve lived in my life that you couldn’t fly the American flag,” he said.
I have never had to face something like this, I live in the country and don’t have to worry about some one telling me that I can’t put a flag pole in my yard or telling me how big of a flag I can fly. This country has become one of so many rule and regulations and as much as I hate to get into the politics of things, I am beginning to wonder if there are any laws that state what a Homeowners Association can and can not govern. Maybe, since there are so many people that want to tell others when, how, and how big they can have their flag pole and American flag, it is time for our government to step in and put a stop to these Homeowner Associations from running a muck!
You can read more stories from the Dispatch about this here.
You can also find out more about Col. Barfoot’s supporters on his Facebook fan page.
