bobdina
06-07-2009, 02:02 PM
Marine vets want to put flags along busy road
By Gidget Fuentes - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Jun 5, 2009 17:07:34 EDT
OCEANSIDE, Calif. — It seems like a simple request: Plant 1,000 U.S. flags along a stretch of Interstate 5 aboard Camp Pendleton during Labor Day weekend in September.
But in recent years the 1st Marine Division Association’s effort to mark this and other federal holidays — including Veterans Day — has been met with a firm “no” from California state highway officials, who once allegedly told the veterans group that “if we allow you to do it, then we have to let Saddam Hussein do it,” said retired Col. Len Hayes, the association’s executive director.
The group wants to display the 3-foot-by-5-foot flags along I-5 near Camp Pendleton’s main gate in Oceanside and the exit at Las Pulgas Road to coincide with its first cross-country motorcycle charity ride. The association is asking members to help fund the event by paying $20 to sponsor an Old Glory.
But the California Department of Transportation, which rejected the association’s first request in 2006 and every year since, says a federal appeals court ordered a halt to the agency’s policy that required a permit for the display of banners along state roads but exempted U.S. flags.
“The ruling was all-or-nothing,” said Ed Cartagena, a spokesman for the transportation department. Since then, the agency has permitted no flags, memorials, banners billboards or advertisements on state roads and overpasses.
“If you allow one type, you allow all types,” he said. “If it’s the U.S. flag, then why not … the Mexican flag?”
Hayes said he’s prepared to face “a big ticket” if he’s stopped from placing flags on the state land. Still, his association could turn to the Corps for a potential alternative. In 2006, base officials allowed veterans to place about 350 flags on federal property along I-5. It’s the only time the group has successfully done a large flag display.
By Gidget Fuentes - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Jun 5, 2009 17:07:34 EDT
OCEANSIDE, Calif. — It seems like a simple request: Plant 1,000 U.S. flags along a stretch of Interstate 5 aboard Camp Pendleton during Labor Day weekend in September.
But in recent years the 1st Marine Division Association’s effort to mark this and other federal holidays — including Veterans Day — has been met with a firm “no” from California state highway officials, who once allegedly told the veterans group that “if we allow you to do it, then we have to let Saddam Hussein do it,” said retired Col. Len Hayes, the association’s executive director.
The group wants to display the 3-foot-by-5-foot flags along I-5 near Camp Pendleton’s main gate in Oceanside and the exit at Las Pulgas Road to coincide with its first cross-country motorcycle charity ride. The association is asking members to help fund the event by paying $20 to sponsor an Old Glory.
But the California Department of Transportation, which rejected the association’s first request in 2006 and every year since, says a federal appeals court ordered a halt to the agency’s policy that required a permit for the display of banners along state roads but exempted U.S. flags.
“The ruling was all-or-nothing,” said Ed Cartagena, a spokesman for the transportation department. Since then, the agency has permitted no flags, memorials, banners billboards or advertisements on state roads and overpasses.
“If you allow one type, you allow all types,” he said. “If it’s the U.S. flag, then why not … the Mexican flag?”
Hayes said he’s prepared to face “a big ticket” if he’s stopped from placing flags on the state land. Still, his association could turn to the Corps for a potential alternative. In 2006, base officials allowed veterans to place about 350 flags on federal property along I-5. It’s the only time the group has successfully done a large flag display.