Did This City Really Ban People From Putting Flags Near the Graves of Vets?

“The Mineral Wells City Council is reconsidering an ordinance that bans flags from being displayed at the graves of veterans at any time other than two weeks around Memorial Day and Veterans Day,” CBS DFW report.

“The ordinance, which was passed last week, includes a host of regulations concerning what can be placed around city graves. Teddy bears and statues must be removed 21 days after the funeral. Mourners cannot place flowers near a gravesite unless they’re in a vase,” the report adds.

Okay, wait. We have two questions:

1. What made council members think this was a good idea?
2. How did they intend to enforce it?

The Cemetery Board pitched the idea to the City Council last week and, apparently, nobody thought that regulating the small comfort of putting flowers or a flag on a grave would, you know, really, really upset some people.

Of course, there was a backlash and of course City Manager Lance Howerton maintains the council didn’t mean any disrespect.

“When a veteran tells you they love the flag more than life itself, they mean it,” said Robert Veach, an Army veteran whose father’s grave is located at Woodland Park Cemetery in Mineral Wells.

Veach was among a group of veterans who were unhappy with the ordinance and took their complaint to the city council.

“Maybe we have to raise the flag a little so it would be easier to weed-eat and mow,” Veach said. “It’s a symbol of the country; we can’t let it go without a fight. We can’t.”