All my life, I’ve loved the American flag. I was taught there is something special about our flag, that it is never trampled upon in war or peace, and we honor it in a uniquely sacred way, never forgetting those before us who gave their lives for what the American flag embodies.
Poverty and World War II enveloped my childhood. As with many children born in 1931, the Great Depression was the euphemism for the longest and most severe worldwide economic downturn in modern history. It lasted from 1929 until the beginning of World War II (1941-1945).
The Great Depression caused mass unemployment, poverty, and psychological distress, leading families to adopt frugal and resourceful lifestyles.
The motto was “Use it up, wear it out, make do or do without.” People planted thrift gardens, patched clothes, repaired shoes with cardboard, and collected wood scraps for fuel.
One day, after school, I searched our kitchen for something to eat. I didn’t like to complain, but I said, “I’m hungry and I can find nothing to eat.” My mother loved us, did her best, just as my dad did, but there was seldom enough food in the house to leave “left-overs.”
“I think there is one stale biscuit in the oven, Bobby. See if that helps,” said my mother. It did not sound appealing, but I thanked her with a big hug. I remember it vividly. It tasted exceptionally delicious with a topping of vinegar, salt, and pepper.
The poverty into which I was born proved to be immensely valuable. First, I had not known a financially better time that would, by contrast, make the poverty worse. We all learned the value of work. Most of all, we remained as hopeful as David Copperfield’s friend, Wilkins Micawber; we knew some day our ship was coming in. The poverty of my youth made me feel ashamed, but now, upon reflecting on “how my light was spent,” I have a puzzling type of unhealthy pride. It is “unhealthy” because all pride is despised, and the favorable change in my family’s economic status was in no way improved by me.
Among the secret powers my firm, unambivalent, and loving mother possessed was the magical means she found a way to purchase a small American flag just when I was on the precipice of giving up my dream of ever owning what I loved so desperately, the American flag.
The other bookend of my youth was WWII. It ended the Great Depression. My older brother, Randolph, enlisted in the Navy on December 7, 1939, exactly two years before we joined WWII. Hewas stationed on the US Craven, a destroyer based in Honolulu. They patrolled the Pacific from Hawaii to Sydney, Australia. Returning from Sydney, the crew of the Craven entered the tail end of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. We prayed for Randolph while listening to the news on the radio.
Randolph was in 14 major military battles and went “over the side” twice when his ships were torpedoed. His medals adorn my office wall. He suffered no serious physical injuries, said nothing about the war, but was never the same person when he came home.
My dad went to work painting warships at the Colonna Shipyard in Norfolk, Va. All three of my older sisters went to work in war-related jobs. My parents modified our house into three small apartments for military wives, and the whole family gave parties for the military men and women in our town.
The American flag serves as a strong symbol of freedom, unity, and patriotism for the nation, with each color and design element representing a distinct significance.
The American flag patch on military uniforms symbolizes patriotism and courage.
The American flag is used to honor the deceased veteran’s service and sacrifice through specific, symbolic protocols of draping, folding, and presentation.
A flag is used to drape the casket or accompany the urn. After Taps, military personnel fold it 13 times into a tri-cornered shape showing only the stars. The folded flag is then formally presented to the next of kin in recognition of the veteran’s honorable service. The ceremony is a tribute to the veteran’s commitment, bravery, and sacrifice.
Unfortunately, the American flag has been at the center of controversy. In 1989, the Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision in Texas v. Johnson held that flag burning is protected expressive conduct under the First Amendment, and the government cannot ban an expression solely because it is offensive or unpopular.
On August 25, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order on flag burning. It doesn’t change the law. Burning the American flag solely for political protest is protected by the First Amendment, but certain actions surrounding flag desecration can be prosecuted under particular conditions:
1. Burning a privately owned or government flag can lead to prosecution for property destruction or arson, regardless of its symbolic purpose.
2. Burning a flag where fire restrictions exist, such as in a public park, may violate local open burning or fire safety laws.
3. If the manner of flag desecration is intended to, and likely will, “incite imminent lawless action” or constitute “fighting words” (direct personal insults likely to provoke a fight), the individual may face prosecution for incitement or disorderly conduct.
4. Stealing a flag before destroying it is a crime that can be prosecuted independently of the subsequent act of desecration.
5. Actions involving flag desecration that also involve violence, hate crimes, or illegal discrimination against individuals would be prosecuted under those specific federal or state laws.
George Soros’s net worth is $7.5 billion. He has donated over $32 billion to the Open Society Foundations, now chaired by his son Alexander Soros. Soros gained his wealth as a hedge fund investor and currency speculator and holds both Hungarian and American citizenship. He lives in New York, where he moved in 1956 to pursue his finance career. He supported President Obama and contributed generously to oppose President Bush. Soros is a globalist who opposes nationalism, including the US. One may deduce his opposition to the American flag and its pledge of allegiance.
Mahmood Mamdani and his son Zohran Mamdani view the American flag and pledge as symbols of violence and exclusionary nationalism, a perspective informed by their view of post-colonial scholarship.
Mahmood Mamdani and his wife have a combined net worth estimated between $2 million and $10 million. Mamdani, a political theorist and Columbia University professor, critically opposes American patriotism and nationalism. He advocates for dismantling nation-states, viewing them as inherently violent and unjust systems built on exclusion and dominance.
Mamdani argues that America was founded on “two monumental crimes: the genocide of the Native American and the enslavement of the African American”. He claims that the U.S. has yet to fully confront its settler-colonial origins.
While not specifically focused on the physical flag, his ideology implies that the flag represents a history of official racism, ethnic cleansing, and the pursuit of national interests that often ignore or suppress marginalized groups and international concerns.
Zohran Mamdani, a New York City politician, state assembly member, and recent mayor-elect, aligns his political actions and statements with his father’s post-nationalist philosophy, applying it to contemporary American politics.
The liberal media is vying to become the master sculptor of public opinion by whatever means necessary. Freedom of speech is a precious privilege, but it smacks of enslavement of the mind if critical thinking is abandoned, the only real threat to democracy, and when truth is sacrificed.
I love America, its flag, its military, its freedom, its opportunities to pursue dreams and goals from childhood to the end of life on earth. We may soon celebrate our 250th year as a nation, but in many ways, we are still in the adolescent stage of our development. Our present stage is characterized by a strong sense of injustice. We know what we oppose, and we protest it with abandon. We have yet to develop a strong sense of what is right and how to pursue it for everyone.
In addition to the blessings of a long and mostly happy life, I am blessed to have been born in America, to have served my country in the military, to have had the privilege to serve my fellow human beings as a physician and professor, to have been wonderfully married for 72 years and blessed with God’s irreplaceable gifts of children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren.
When we obtain maturity as a nation and put away our adolescent misunderstanding, we will truly love each other as God loves and forgives us, and we will someday all learn to prove our love of God by obeying Him.
Robert S. Brown, MD, PHD a retired Psychiatrist, Col (Ret) U.S. Army Medical Corps devoted the last decade of his career to treating soldiers at Fort Lee redeploying from combat. He was a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Professor of Education at UVA. His renowned Mental Health course taught the value of exercise for a sound mind.
