Dear Editor,
I'm curious to know what the campus criteria for flying the flag at half-staff is.
There have been numerous times when I have seen it at half-staff and wondered why, since there seems to be no mention of a notable death(s) in the New York Times or the Daily Universe.
One day, however, the flag was not at half-staff. Rather than just being slightly curious, I was quite upset. It was December 7, 'National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.'
Perhaps I was so upset because my home is less than 30 miles away from Pearl Harbor. Perhaps it is because I have placed flowers on the USS Arizona Memorial and gazed at the sunken ship, a golden barnacle-covered tomb for her 1,400 sons, just visible under a foot of water.
Perhaps it is because I realized, as I walked through the National Cemetery of the Pacific, that the 'men' who died at Pearl Harbor were my age -- people's sons and brothers and boyfriends. Perhaps I'm just overly patriotic. But please, 3,500 people died or were injured and America went to war because of the bombing of Pearl Harbor 59 years ago today (not to mention the fact that Public Law 103-308 asks all 'Federal departments and agencies, organizations, and individuals to fly the flag of the United States at half-staff on this day in honor of those Americans who died as a result of the attack on Pearl Harbor').
I will reconcile myself to having the flag lowered for reasons not readily apparent to the average person only if it is also lowered for the young men of Pearl Harbor.
Their sacrifice paved the way for the eventual, but painful, triumph of freedom and democracy over fascism and totalitarianism. Let's be decent and give them the honor they deserve.
Jessica Preece
Laie, Hawaii