Never cast it aside

I find Fran McKeon's reasons for hating our flag petty and selfish. That she admires a traitor like Jane Fonda is reprehensible.

I have a flag that flew over Corregidor before the island fell to the Japanese army on April 10, 1942. My grandfather was a member of the Naval battalion there, and when the command to lay down their arms was given, he hid this flag and another from the Japanese before he was captured. After he was released from the POW camp, he returned to the Philippines to get his family and was able to recover the flags from Corregidor. Their stars and stripes are faded and graying, but they remain poignant reminders of the incredible courage against overwhelming enemy forces.

The American and Filipino soldiers and citizens who fought and died under this flag would not disrespect it for trivial reasons. My grandfather was a 32-year U.S. Navy man, and I am a 21-year veteran of the Navy. I will never cast aside my country or my flag because of the antics of our politicians or for a bunch of whiny, spoiled Hollywood traitors.

SCOTT G. SMITH

Modesto