Van T. Barfoot died
Remember the guy who
wouldn't take
the flag pole down on
his Virginia
property a while
back?
You might remember
the news story several
months ago about a
crotchety old man in
Virginia who defied
his local Homeowners
Association, and
refused to take down the
flag pole on his
property along with the large
American flag he flew
on it.
Now we learn who that
old man was.
On June 15, 1919, Van
T. Barfoot was born in
Edinburg , Texas .
That probably didn't make
news back then.
But twenty-five years
later, on May 23, 1944,
near Carano , Italy ,
that same Van T. Barfoot,
who had in 1940
enlisted in the U.S. Army, set
out alone to flank
German machine gun
positions from which
gunfire was raining
down on his fellow
soldiers.
His advance took him
through a minefield but
having done so, he
proceeded to single-handedly
take out three enemy
machine gun positions,
returning with 17
prisoners of war.
And if that weren't
enough for a day's work, he later
took on and destroyed
three German tanks
sent to retake the
machine gun positions.
That probably didn't
make much news either,
given the scope of
the war, but it did earn
Van T. Barfoot, who
retired as a Colonel after
also serving in Korea
and Vietnam , a well
deserved
Congressional Medal of Honor.
What did make
news...Was his Neighborhood
Association's quibble
with how the 90-year-old
veteran chose to fly
the American flag outside
his suburban Virginia
home. Seems the HOA rules
said it was OK to fly
a flag on a house-mounted
bracket, but, for
decorum, items such as
Barfoot's 21-foot
flagpole was "unsuitable".
Van Barfoot had been
denied a permit for
the pole, but erected
it anyway and was facing
court action unless
he agreed to take it down.
Then the HOA story
made national TV,
and the Neighborhood
Association rethought
its position and
agreed to indulge this
aging hero who dwelt
among them.
"In the time I
have left", he said to the
Associated Press,
"I plan to continue
to fly the American
flag without interference."
As well he should.
And if any of his
neighbors had taken a notion to
contest him further,
they might have done well to
read his Medal of
Honor citation first. Seems it
indicates Mr. Van
Barfoot wasn't particularly
good at backing down.
Van T. Barfoot's
Medal of Honor citation:
This 1944 Medal of
Honor citation, listed with the
National Medal of
Honor Society,
is for Second
Lieutenant Van T. Barfoot,
157th Infantry, 45th
Infantry:
If you got this email
and didn't pass it on -
guess what - you need
your butt kicked!
I sent this to you,
because I didn't want MY butt kicked!
Do the right thing!
