News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Members of the Sisters City Council are taking heat for denying a request by veterans organizations to place a city-funded 25-foot flagpole in the Village Green as part of a veterans memorial.
The criticism is overheated and unfair. Everyone needs to step back and take a deep breath.
The city council is not disrespecting veterans or the flag. In fact, their decision not to support placement of the flag is intended as a gesture of respect to the Veterans Memorial Park that already exists at the west end of Sisters.
That park was created by the Sisters Rotary Club and is lovingly maintained as a school project by students from Sisters Christian Academy. It was dedicated on May 30, 2006, in a moving ceremony featuring keynote speaker and Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Robert D. Maxwell.
The park hosts a "welcome" sign, a plaque honoring veterans, a flag pole and attractive landscaping. Many individuals and organizations contributed to its creation. The city council believes it would dilute and diminish the impact of the existing Veterans Memorial Park to create something essentially the same at Village Green Park.
Unfortunately, the Veterans Memorial Park is not suitable for the annual Memorial Day ceremony hosted by the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion. The city recognizes that.
The council has encouraged the placement of a memorial stone at the Village Green and has offered to assist the VFW and the American Legion with equipment for the presentation of the colors at the yearly ceremony at the Village Green.
We understand the desire of the veterans organization to have a flag standing symbolic watch over the Village Green memorial. Maybe the council should reconsider its position; perhaps no one would feel that a new memorial was stealing the thunder from the current Veterans Memorial Park. Perhaps the city should let the veterans groups raise funds for the flag pole themselves and allow its placement in the Village Green.
Regardless, councilors tried to take a reasonable, good-faith position that is respectful to all parties. The council members certainly do not deserve accusations of being disrespectful to veterans, and calling the decision "un-American," as some have, is completely out of line.
Unwarranted attacks on the character and patriotism of volunteers trying to serve their community do the American flag no honor.
Jim Cornelius, Editor
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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