thedrifter
01-10-07, 08:11 AM
January 09, 2007
Flag at reservist’s grave still controversial
The Associated Press
KEITHSBURG, Ill. — An American flag is again flying over a sailor’s grave in this tiny western Illinois town, but how long it stays there is up in the air.
The sailor’s widow and cemetery officials have battled for weeks over the full-sized flag at the grave of Petty Officer First Class Jerry Tharp, a 44-year-old naval reservist who was killed July 12 by a roadside bomb in Iraq.
Cemetery officials have taken down the flag twice, saying it violates regulations intended to maintain the appearance of the graveyard outside this town of about 700 people along the Mississippi River southwest of the Quad Cities.
Gayle Tharp, the sailor’s widow, has put it back up both times. She said the flag is a tribute to her late husband and other soldiers who have died in the war against terrorism.
“We thought she was working with us,” he said Monday.
Tharp said her husband loved the flag — even carrying one with him to Iraq — and would have wanted one at his grave.
“I’m just trying to support my husband,” Tharp said. “He was very adamant about flying that flag.”
Tharp said cemetery officials haven’t contacted her since the last time she raised the flag.
The cemetery board consulted an attorney, and sent Tharp a certified letter last month giving her until Jan. 21 to remove any banned items from the grave, Heath said. Cemetery officials said that also includes a bench that interferes with mowing of the grounds.
Ellie
Flag at reservist’s grave still controversial
The Associated Press
KEITHSBURG, Ill. — An American flag is again flying over a sailor’s grave in this tiny western Illinois town, but how long it stays there is up in the air.
The sailor’s widow and cemetery officials have battled for weeks over the full-sized flag at the grave of Petty Officer First Class Jerry Tharp, a 44-year-old naval reservist who was killed July 12 by a roadside bomb in Iraq.
Cemetery officials have taken down the flag twice, saying it violates regulations intended to maintain the appearance of the graveyard outside this town of about 700 people along the Mississippi River southwest of the Quad Cities.
Gayle Tharp, the sailor’s widow, has put it back up both times. She said the flag is a tribute to her late husband and other soldiers who have died in the war against terrorism.
“We thought she was working with us,” he said Monday.
Tharp said her husband loved the flag — even carrying one with him to Iraq — and would have wanted one at his grave.
“I’m just trying to support my husband,” Tharp said. “He was very adamant about flying that flag.”
Tharp said cemetery officials haven’t contacted her since the last time she raised the flag.
The cemetery board consulted an attorney, and sent Tharp a certified letter last month giving her until Jan. 21 to remove any banned items from the grave, Heath said. Cemetery officials said that also includes a bench that interferes with mowing of the grounds.
Ellie