Gaffney bank removes US flags honoring fallen Marine, Cherokee County Council votes to close Bank of America bank accounts. Here’s the article that caught my attention.

Bank of America
Attn: Manager – Brandy Tate
1602 West Floyd Baker Blvd
Gaffney, SC 29341
864.487.3651 (Customer Service)

Again, I personally did the fact checking on this one. The hero that should be remembered is Marine Lance Corporal Chris Fowlkes who died September 10th in a hospital in Germany of injuries he received in Afghanistan the previous week when a roadside bomb exploded. The flags were to honor his return home.

Hopefully this is an opportunity for Bank of America to inculcate all of their managers and employees that respect for our flag is not a partisan issue and is wholly appropriate regardless of whether you’re a citizen, resident, or just happen to be visiting our country. I received a little press today [Hank in Lawrence Journal World] and am glad to see that our coffee business has been well received in this community, especially considering we’re based out of the college town of Lawrence, Kansas.

I think it’s apropos to mention that my eldest son happens to be a pre med student at the University of Kansas here and I like to keep a pulse on the local sentiments now that I’m retired from the Corps. We have a huge veteran population many of whom are close friends.  I’m proud to report back that 99.9% of the comments I hear and receive are positive, if you’ve seen my truck with the Sniper on the Hood and the Devil Dog Eyes you’d know I’m not shy about drawing attention to myself or my unabashed pro military pro law enforcement advertisement. I’m not so sure that I would have been so well received during the Viet Nam era, but I must say that my support is very broad based. I believe one of the reasons folks get immediately fired up when there’s a display of bad judgment is exactly because of some of the poor treatment to our returning Veterans from Viet Nam, we’re not about to relive that embarrassing conduct or tolerate it from anyone.

That being the case, I’m always staying alert regarding how our veterans and active military brothers and sisters are being treated and received in the communities they live, work, and return to. This brings back to mind the treatment of Marine Corps recruiters in Berkeley, or the Marine that received grief from the home owners association regarding his USMC bumper stickers, or even the mother that worked for a hospital that had a flag taken down. All discussed on KDH this past year, {Claire that’s one of the many reasons you’re such a hero in my book and always will be!}.

When we give voice the response has been impressive, let’s continue to be heard.

Loud and clear.

With Utmost Respect ~ Semper Fi, Hank

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