Flag at half-staff; is it used in too many cases?

SGT Ben Keen — Fri, 31 Jan 2014 14:14:36 -0500

So last night one of the K9s on the Pittsburgh City Police force died after being stabbed by a criminal. Today, the Major ordered all city buildings to fly their flags at half-mast. I agree with the order because while the police officer that was killed walked on four legs, Rocco was still very much part of the force. I'm sure those of you that were MPs can echo that. However, it did strike up a conversation here at work that I thought I would expand to the audience here on RallyPoint.

Over the past few years, we have seen several famous people pass away. Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, more recently Pete Seegar, Eric Lawson (aka the Marlboro man) and many others. After some of these people passed away, the POTUS or other government officials have ordered flags to be lowered to half-mast.

My question to the RallyPoint members, are we giving the honor of having the flags dropped to half-mast away to many people? While I agree that first-responders, military, and government officials should be given this honor, I fail to understand why it would be dropped for anyone else outside of these roles.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 31 at 2014 2:16 PM

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 31 Jan 2014 14:16:07 -0500

I think now days we drop the flag far too often and that it is lessening the significance of our flag and its honors

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made May 5 at 2014 4:39 PM

SSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 05 May 2014 16:39:17 -0400

I almost choked when he lowered it for Whitney Houston. Disregard that she was an awesome singer who snorted away her God-given talent. I don't remember seeing her in uniform (except that one time she sang the National Anthem).

For the dog, absolutely. For Whitney, it lacked honor.

Response by Sgt S.P. Woodke made May 30 at 2014 1:46 PM

Sgt S.P. Woodke — Fri, 30 May 2014 13:46:52 -0400

it is used in Waaaaaaay tooo many cases...

Response by SSG Mike Angelo made Jul 20 at 2014 9:26 AM

SSG Mike Angelo — Sun, 20 Jul 2014 09:26:27 -0400

I live in a small upper Midwest town; I am unaffected. If I was living in Oakland, New York City, Chicago, Dallas, or other big cities, I would say Let the State decide. If the Feds put theirs at half mast, that's them. I believe in States rights.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 21 at 2015 10:21 PM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 21 Jul 2015 22:21:40 -0400

So why did it take the POTUS five days to order l the flag lowered, when in other cases it only took hours. Aren't those Marines and Sailor good enough??. And buy the way, I hope they cut the beurocratic BS and award them all the Purple Heart before they are buried.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 21 at 2015 10:23 PM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 21 Jul 2015 22:23:40 -0400

Forgot to add. My house, my flag. It was lowered the day of the attack

Response by SGT Tracey "Tra" Cooper-Harris made Jul 3 at 2016 2:42 AM

SGT Tracey "Tra" Cooper-Harris — Sun, 03 Jul 2016 02:42:58 -0400

I know with Whitney Houston & other celebrities, it was the Governor of the person's home state, not necessarily POTUS who gave the order. I'm from Whitney Houston's home town or East Orange, NJ. I believe the Governor did it to distract attention from some minor scandals/heated issues going on at the time.

Response by Deborah Gregson made Jan 13 at 2017 9:28 PM

Deborah Gregson — Fri, 13 Jan 2017 21:28:44 -0500

I don't know why this came up in my feed now as no comments have been made recently on the subject, but...

....about a month ago at a local college a beloved former professor died. The story was all over the news, there were all kinds of tributes to him and campus wide memorials, including the President of the campus "ordering the lowering of the US flag on campus to half mast for the week" in mourning. I commented on the college Facebook page that a college president didn't have the authority to do so, and linked the regulation that stated who and when the flag could be lowered. Given the current social climate and lack of respect for tradition it wasn't surprising to be told by a student that the president had every right to do whatever he wanted on their campus, that the professor was loved by many and had made great contributions to the college and community so deserved the honor.

I disagree. The honor of the flag half mast should be only for military and government officials, and on official government holidays. There is a specific reason for this high honor, and diluting its meaning by using it for anyone or any event that a college professor, fire or police department, mayor or citizen feels is worthy degrades the honor for whom it was specifically meant. If they want an alternative they could consider lowering the state flag, school flag, business or institution flag instead. (I will admit as a private citizen I lower mine half mast sometimes even though it's not officially ordered by the President, as I did at the death of Sen. John Glenn, USMC recently.)

Response by MSgt Wayne Morris made Jan 15 at 2017 7:29 PM

MSgt Wayne Morris — Sun, 15 Jan 2017 19:29:31 -0500

Way too often of late and it dilutes the purpose. The US flag should only be lowered at half staff by direction of POTUS and then only under a strict criteria. This should never happen for singers and actors, never.