An insult to heroes:

[DonaldN]

From: P.O.W. Network - Chuck and Mary Schantag

Sent: Monday, May 14, 2007 8:38 AM
Subject: POW/MIA

An insult to heroes: Comparing POWs to special interests
The Union Leader - Manchester,NH,USA

An insult to heroes: Comparing POWs to special interests

Friday, May. 11, 2007

AMERICA'S FORGOTTEN heroes, the prisoners of war and their comrades who went missing in action, are seldom honored enough. When Sen. Jack Barnes, R-Raymond, a decorated Korean War veteran, tried to honor them, he was met with resistance so infuriatingly callous that it caused him more than one blue outburst.

Barnes' bill, Senate Bill 27, would have mandated flying the POW/MIA flag at every state courthouse. It sailed through the Senate, but amazingly the House Judiciary Committee voted it down, 10 to 6, on Tuesday. Rep. Philip Preston, D-Ashland, called the POW/MIA heroes a "special interest" group, saying that if courthouses flew the POW/MIA flag they'd have to fly any other group's flag.

Barnes called Preston and Rep. Peter Espiefs, D-Keene, who made similar comments, the offspring of female dogs. While not stooping to such terminology, we share Barnes' outrage. A politician could seldom make a more offensive statement than to equate the lost souls of our armed forces to political special interest groups.

These representatives need a civics lesson, preferably taught by Sen. Barnes or another veteran who felt the pain of having to leave friends unaccounted for on a battlefield.

Sen. Barnes' harangues moved the committee to reconsider the bill, and on Wednesday it approved an amended version that requires the POW/MIA flag to be flown on all state property where the U.S. flag is flown. That version should be before the full House next week, and it deserves that body's complete support.

The POW/MIA flag is not a "special interest" banner or, in the words of Rep. Fran Potter, D-Concord, one of any number of "commemorative flags" that might decorate state flag poles. It is a unique reminder of the sacrifices made to keep us free and of the great number of American service members who, once lost, have been all but forgotten by their countrymen.