A Veteran Who Has Earned the Right to Display Old Glory

by Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA)

Many of you have been following the dispute between a 90 year old Medal of Honor recipient and his homeowners association about flying the American flag.  If you haven’t, you can read about it in the Richmond Times Dispatch here.

Col. Van T. Barfoot, a resident of Richmond, Virginia, is a veteran of World War II, Korea, and Vietnam who begins his day by raising the flag in his front yard.  This seems simple enough, a man who has sacrificed so much raising the flag he risked his life to defend around the world, yet the dispute continued.

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In response, Congressman Buck McKeon (CA-25) of the Armed Services Committee and I introduced a resolution to ensure that ANY of the 72 Congressional Medal of Honor winners can fly the American flag outside their homes at any time.  Interestingly, minutes later the homeowners association announced that they would let him proceed.

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