American Military News by Barbara OBrien - The Buffalo News June 12, 2023
Pride flag squeezes POW/MIA flag off Hamburg Town Hall flagpole, causing flap with veterans
Angry veterans in Hamburg say it’s not which flag was hoisted on the flagpole in front of Town Hall earlier this month, but which flag was taken down to make room for it.
The town Coalition for Equity and Inclusion raised the Pride flag below the American flag June 2 as part of the observance of Pride Month.
A POW/MIA flag was taken down, upsetting some veterans — including a Vietnam War vet charged with harassing the town supervisor — and prompting calls for a demonstration at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Town Hall to support veterans, prisoners of war and those missing or killed in action, as well as object to the actions of Supervisor Randy Hoak, whom they blame for the incident.
Amy Owczarczak, commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1419, said on Facebook that her VFW post is not organizing the gathering Saturday, but several veterans in the post and outside groups are organizing it.
“I do not tolerate hate against race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or disability. Anyone within the post, whether it be a member or a guest will abide by our standards. Otherwise, they will be asked to leave,” Owczarczak said in the social media post.
Hoak told The Buffalo News this week the POW/MIA flag was frayed and tattered, and needed to be replaced.
Veterans who are upset said that was not made clear before or on June 2, and if they had known, they would have presented a new one to the town the same day.
A transgender veteran who attended the Pride flag raising said she is the one who discovered the POW/MIA flag was tattered, and feels responsible for the controversy. She said on a Facebook video shot immediately after the flag-raising that the flag was damaged and would go back up.
“I’m the one who said it needed to be taken down because the flag was tattered, I was helping to take the flag down,” said Diana Patton, a former U.S. Navy hull technician.
Patton told The Buffalo News this week she had served in color guards in the Navy and for an American Legion post. She said the POW/MIA flag is very important to her, because her grandfather was a POW three times during World War II. And the Pride flag means just as much to her because she said veterans served and fought for others to have the freedom to express who they are.
More:
https://americanmilitarynews.com/2023/06/pride-flag-squeezes-pow-mia-flag-off-hamburg-town-hall-flagpole-causing-flap-with-veterans/
