I remember 1969 in Chicago. If you'll recall, until then, nobody - except for some hippies and Peter Fonda wannabes - wore American flags on their clothes or hats. That was a no-no. Anyway, at the height of the protests in front of the Federal Courthouse where the trial of the "Chicago 7" was underway, the construction workers downtown - the "hardhats" - had a belly-full of seeing NVA flags carried around and hearing the favorite chant of the protesters, "Ho-Ho-Ho Chi Minh, NLF is gonna win!" One day, the "hardhats" put American flag stickers on their hardhats and at noon, thousand upon thousands of union and non-union iron workers, sheet metal workers, carpenters, cement finishers, plumbers, electricians, painters, laborers, etc. all walked off their jobs and confronted the unwashed rabble of anti-American protesters and pounded lumps on them! They routed the scum out of downtown and made sure they didn't come back. Ever since then, wearing the American flag on a hardhat has been
de riguer, as the whole country took a shine to wearing the flag. The "hardhats" gained a reputation and during that time were feared by hippie and Yippie scum. The hardhats brought the peace to Chicago.
I remember. My dad was one of them.
:
"The hardhats brought the peace to Chicago. I remember. My dad was one of them."
Thanks for posting this! And God Bless your dad, where ever he maybe.
Excellent story. Kudos to your REAL AMERICAN DAD!