Welcoming visitors more important than flag issues
About a week ago, the Yuma Sun published a letter on flag protocol and it mentioned people flying the Canadian flag in Yuma.
While that writer had some correct points on the technicalities of flag protocol, I would like to point out a few facts that we should think about before asking for strict compliance with those protocols.
Canada has been a self-governing democracy since 1867 and has been one of staunchest allies that the United States has ever had.
Canadian troops fought and died to protect democracy along with our other allies in World War I.
Canadian military forces fought and died as our allies to protect democracies from fascist Nazi forces in World War II.
Canadian forces also fought alongside our troops in Korea, and they have been fighting alongside us in Afghanistan for over a decade.
And, if you look closely, many of the Canadian license plates we see in Yuma are "veteran" plates, many earned by fighting alongside our troops in wars over the last century.
We are lucky to have the thousands of visitors that spend the winter with us here in Yuma and we should be thankful for our many Canadian visitors who volunteer their time to serve at Yuma charities.
A Canadian flag flying over someone’s house in Yuma is no more of a claim of sovereignty than the U.S. flags that fly at American Legion posts in the Republic of Ireland.
Let’s say welcome and thanks to our Canadian neighbors rather than focusing on protocol technicalities.
Paul Johnson
Yuma
