Seems the link to the story does not go there ... This is the rest of the story ....
The recitation of the 13 folds of the U.S. flag can no longer be made at national cemeteries. Veterans and honor detail volunteers, such as Bobby Castillo, 85, left, and Rees Lloyd, 59, are furious.
“That the actions of one disgruntled, whining, narcissistic and intolerant individual is preventing veterans from getting the honors they deserve is truly an outrage,” said Rees Lloyd, 59, a Vietnam-era veteran and Memorial Honor Detail volunteer. “This is another attempt by secularist fanatics to cleanse any reference to God.”
World War II Navy sailor Bobby Castillo, 85, another member of Memorial Honor Detail 12, called the federal decision “a slap in the face to every veteran.”
“When we got back from the war, we didn’t ask for a whole lot,” said Castillo, who was wounded in 1944 as he supported the Allied landings in France. “We just want to give our veterans the respect they deserve. No one has ever complained to us about it. I just don’t understand.”
The pair, part of a team that has performed military honors at more than 1,400 services, said they were preparing to read the flag-folding remarks when workers in a staff car came up to them and stopped them.
Charlie Waters, parliamentarian for the American Legion of California, said he’s advising memorial honor details to ignore the edict, even if it means being kicked out of cemeteries.
“This is nuts,” Waters, a Korean War veteran, said in a telephone interview from Fresno. “There are 26 million veterans in this country and they’re not going to take us all to prison.”
Washington’s Explanation
Mike Nacincik, the spokesman for the National Cemetery Administration, said the new policy, which was outlined in a Sept. 27 memo, is aimed at creating uniform services throughout the military graveyard system.
He said the 13-fold recital is not part of the U.S. Flag Code and is not government approved. After the complaint made its way through government channels, Steve Muro, director of field operations, wrote the new policy.
Nacincik said that while the flag-folding narrative includes references to God that the government does not endorse, the main reason for the new rules is uniformity.
“We are looking at consistency,” Nacincik said. “We think that’s important.”
As for comments that the edict is an attack on religious beliefs, Nacincik said, “People are going to have their own views on that.”
He said the flag-folding narrative can be read but only if families make arrangements on their own and do not use cemetery workers, which include volunteers. The U.S. government owns Riverside National, the most active national cemetery in the country with more than 8,000 burials of veterans and immediate family members each year.
A Jewish Perspective
Rabbi Yitzhak Miller, of Riverside’s Temple Beth El, said he understands the government’s decision to ban the recitation but believes it is a quick solution to a complex issue.
“It is a perfect example of government choosing to ignore religion in order to avoid offending some religions,” Miller said. “To me, ignoring religion in general is just as problematic as endorsing any one religion.”
Miller said the 11th fold, and the 12th fold, which refers to the Christian Trinity — “God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost — amounts to an endorsement of Judaism and Christianity. He said he would like to see a reference to “God as we understand God” mentioned in the ritual but without endorsing any specific tradition.
“To acknowledge those two without acknowledging others denigrates the patriotic men and women of other faiths who serve our country,” he said.
Family Wishes
Lloyd and Castillo said they always speak to families before providing military honors to their loved ones. Honors include a rifle salute, the playing of taps and the folding of the flag. Some families don’t want any honors; others decline specific parts of the ceremony. Those wishes are paramount and are always respected.
Lloyd said the 16 members of the Memorial Honor Detail he serves on have distributed hundreds of copies of the script they recite while folding the flag. They’ve received dozens of letters thanking them, and several mention in particular the flag-folding recitation. But now presenting families that memento isn’t allowed under the directive.
Lloyd, a member of the state American Legion, said he knows Riverside National Cemetery workers are just obeying orders. The real battle is with Washington.
“We’re going to fight this tooth and nail, hammer and boot,” he said.
Flag folds
These meanings, not part of the U.S. Flag Code, have been ascribed to the 13 folds of American flags at veterans burial services:
1. Symbol of life.
2. Symbol of our belief in the eternal life.
3. In honor and remembrance of the veteran departing our ranks who gave a portion of life for the defense of our country to attain a peace throughout the world.
4. Represents our weaker nature, for as American citizens trusting in God, it is to Him we turn in times of peace as well as in times of war for His divine guidance.
5. A tribute to our country, for in the words of Stephen Decatur, “Our country, in dealing with other countries, may she always be right; but it is still our country, right or wrong.”
6. Represents where our hearts lie. It is with our heart that we pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
7. A tribute to our armed forces.
8. A tribute to the one who entered in to the valley of the shadow of death, that we might see the light of day, and to honor mother, for whom it flies on Mother’s Day.
9. A tribute to womanhood.
10. A tribute to father.
11. In the eyes of a Hebrew citizen, represents the lower portion of the seal of King David and King Solomon, and glorifies, in their eyes, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
12. In the eyes of a Christian citizen, represents an emblem of eternity and glorifies, in their eyes, God the Father, the Son, and Holy Ghost.
13. When the flag is completely folded, the stars are uppermost, reminding us of our national motto, “In God We Trust.”
Sources: USHistory.com, other Web sites
If the FAMILY of the deceased ASKS for it, who is this guy to deny them?
I think the text is rather silly. But I am opposed to there being a federal government policy on the matter. Uniformity is NOT an important value. Funerals should be conducted according to the wishes of the family.
To All: I was having breakfast with family at a restaurant this morning and saw the article in a newspaper - came home later in the evening, located the story and posted it ... just trying ..... k?
Notice which monotheistic god is not named.
From whence commeth the complaint?
One guess...confirming my belief that “Allah” is a four-letter word.
Too bad. The USA was founded on and by Judaism and Christian values. And that's what veterans fought to protect along with the freedom that is a RESULT of these values.
If anyone has objections to it, let THEM make alternate arrangements. Verterans did not fight to have our freedom and values stripped away by dictatorship governments perverted by minority groups and godless perverts.
” Nacincik said that while the flag-folding narrative includes references to God that the government does not endorse, the main reason for the new rules is uniformity.”
Well the Founding Founders had quite a few references to God that and their reasoning stood the test of time for centuries. Leave it to the PC heathens in Washthecar DC to think up some goofy excuse like this..Let the Veterans families decide what they want at the Vets funeral. Thank God for the American Legion for taking up this cause
“He said he would like to see a reference to “God as we understand God” mentioned in the ritual but without endorsing any specific tradition.”
And I’d like to see it stay intact exactly as is. If the family doesn’t like it, they can request that it not be recited. Leave the other 99.9 percent of the families alone and stick to tradition.