You don't ever want to mess with a Medal of Honor recipient. They've done better things in their life than you ever will with your pitiful existence. (I'm talking to you, over there, sitting at your little desk, avoiding the tiny stack of papers piled up to your right.)
This is especially true if you're a puny little homeowner's association who wants to take away a hero's flag.
Col. Van T. Barfoot, 90, of Henrico County, Va., who received the Medal of Honor for his amazingly heroic actions in World War II, raises and lowers the flag from a flagpole outside his house every day. His Homeowners Association wants him to cut it out, reports the Times Dispatch. They argue that the war hero's flag pole violates the aesthetic rules of the association.
So they've sicced the lawyers on him, telling him that he must take the pole down or risk heavy fines. Ooooh! Men in suits! Ooooh! "Aesthetic" rules! He trembles.
From the citation that accompanied his Medal of Honor:
"With his platoon heavily engaged during an assault against forces well entrenched on commanding ground, 2d Lt. Barfoot (then Tech. Sgt.) moved off alone upon the enemy left flank. He crawled to the proximity of 1 machinegun nest and made a direct hit on it with a hand grenade, killing 2 and wounding 3 Germans. He continued along the German defense line to another machinegun emplacement, and with his tommygun killed 2 and captured 3 soldiers. Members of another enemy machinegun crew then abandoned their position and gave themselves up to Sgt. Barfoot. Leaving the prisoners for his support squad to pick up, he proceeded to mop up positions in the immediate area, capturing more prisoners and bringing his total count to 17."
And that's just from the morning. So those lawyers who want to take away his flagpole? They're no match.
That's especially true with the high-powered allies he now has on his side. Virginia Sen. Mark Warner is looking to help break the impasse. Other members of the public have rallied to his cause -- including the ubiquitous Facebook group.
Who's going to win this battle? The puny little HOA or the war hero who, even at age 90, could still disembowel you with a golf pencil -- the man with more courage in his big toe than the sum total of any of us pansies reading this. I know where my money's going.
