Medal of Honor vet vows to fly US flag unhindered

State News

December 10, 2009

Anonymous Picayune Item Thu Dec 10, 2009, 11:50 AM CST

RICHMOND, Va. — A 90-year-old Army veteran who was awarded the Medal of Honor during World War II is thanking people who supported his battle to keep a 21-foot flagpole in his front yard, now that his homeowners’ association has dropped its demand that he take it down.

Retired Army Col. Van T. Barfoot read a statement Wednesday thanking “neighbors and people all through the country who have supported me in flying the American flag here in front of my home.”

Barfoot’s comments came a day after the Sussex Square homeowners’ association dropped threats of legal action against him. He had erected the flagpole in September, despite being denied permission to do so because it violated the neighborhood’s aesthetic guidelines. The association originally had threatened to take Barfoot to court if he failed to remove the pole by Friday.

“In the time I have left I plan to continue to fly the American flag without interference,” he said.

The issue generated attention nationwide, including support for Barfoot from Virginia’s U.S. senators. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs on Monday called the homeowners group’s request “silly.”

Neighborhood association president Glenn Wilson said that the dispute wasn’t about the flag or patriotism, but about the pole. He said that many residents of the suburban townhouse community fly their American flags on house-mounted poles.

Barfoot, a Mississippi native, was awarded the Medal of Honor during World War II for actions while his platoon was under German assault near Carano, Italy, in May 1944. He was credited with standing up to three German tanks with a bazooka and stopping their advance. He also earned the Purple Heart and other decorations, and served in Korea and Vietnam before retiring from the service in 1974.

Text Only

State News

Miss. high court hears arguments over pardons Feuding attorneys asked the Mississippi Supreme Court on Thursday to determine the validity of pardons that Haley Barbour gave to convicted killers and other convicts during his final days as governor. Chief Justice Bill Waller Jr. said the court would not rule Thursday, but he didn’t say when a decision would come.
February 10, 2012
Senate votes to merge 3 Sunflower school districts The Mississippi Senate passed a bill Wednesday that would merge Sunflower County’s three school districts into one, easing into the politically sensitive topic of consolidation by focusing on a single area in the impoverished Delta.
February 9, 2012
Kansas, Missouri fight to keep Marine data center
Kansas and Missouri officials are working together to fend off New Orleans’ effort to lure a Marine Corps data center and its 400 high-paying jobs away from Kansas City.
The congressional delegations and governors from both states have written to Marine Corps Commandant James F. Amos, arguing to keep the center where it is.

February 8, 2012
Judge temporarily blocks Mississippi execution
A federal judge on Monday temporarily blocked the execution of a Mississippi inmate who killed two men during a robbery spree in 1995. The man’s attorneys asked for the order, not arguing guilt or innocence, but that corrections officials prevented Edwin Hart Turner from getting medical tests that could prove he is mentally ill.

February 7, 2012
New rules, tests proposed for public aid in Miss.
People who receive public assistance would be subject to random testing for drugs or nicotine and would have to perform community service under new requirements being considered by Mississippi lawmakers.

February 4, 2012
Home strengthening may lower insurance
Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney said he is working with legislators on a bill that would require insurers to offer discounts to homeowners who have strengthened homes against wind damage.
State officials told the Sun Herald that they hope the reinforcement of roofing, doors, windows and other components also will qualify homeowners for insurance discounts, although there are no guarantees.

February 4, 2012
Inmate asks courts to stop execution
Condemned inmate Edwin Hart Turner’s lawyer told a federal judge Friday that a corrections policy prevented Turner from getting tests that could prove he’s mentally ill and ineligible for execution.

February 4, 2012
Pardoned killer to fight return to Mississippi
A convicted murderer who left Mississippi after being pardoned by former Gov. Haley Barbour seems poised to fight attempts to force him to return from Wyoming. Joseph Ozment’s attorney, Robert Moxley, told The Associated Press on Thursday that he will defend Ozment’s freedom if he decides to try to stay in Wyoming.

February 3, 2012
Universities say financial aid fund running short
Recipients of state scholarships could see their aid packages trimmed unless the Mississippi Legislature puts more money into financial aid. That includes the more than 20,000 students who receive the Mississippi Tuition Assistance Grant.

February 3, 2012
Bad info infuriated kin of pardoned man’s victims
In another twist in the often confusing aftermath of pardons granted by former Gov. Haley Barbour on his way out of office, Mississippi corrections officials said Tuesday that victims’ relatives were given bad information by the state that fanned their outrage.

February 2, 2012
More State News Headlines

State News

Search Results

Medal of Honor vet vows to fly US flag unhindered

Site Map

Contact Us