Medal of Honor Winner Should not be treated this way!
WWII vet gains supporters in flagpole battle
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — One of the nation's oldest Medal of Honor
winners is fighting again, now with a Virginia neighborhood association
that wants him to take down his front-yard flagpole.
Supporters, including a U.S. senator, are falling in behind 90-year-old Army Col. Van T. Barfoot, a World War II veteran.
Barfoot put up the 21-foot flagpole in September. He raises the flag daily at sunrise and retires it at sunset.
But the Sussex Square homeowners' association says the flagpole
violates the neighborhood's aesthetic guidelines and ordered him to
remove it by 5 p.m. Friday or face a lawsuit.
U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner is among those offering to help break the
impasse, according to Warner spokesman Kevin Hall. Others are backing
Barfoot on the Internet, including with a Facebook page.
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RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A 90-year-old Army veteran who won the Medal
of Honor during World War II is battling his homeowners' association
for the right to fly the American flag from a pole in his front yard.
Col. Van Barfoot says he erected the flagpole in September. The
homeowners' association at his suburban Richmond subdivision told him
that the free-standing pole violates aesthetic guidelines and ordered
him to remove the structure or face a lawsuit.
Barfoot won his medal for actions in Italy in 1944 and is one of
about 90 surviving Medal of Honor winners. He's also won the Purple
Heart and other decorations.
Neighbors have expressed their support, but ultimately it's up to
the nine-member association board on whether they will grant an
exception to the rules.
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