I own a condo, they have rules like that in the ‘by laws’. They made a lady take a Christmas wreath off of her door last year. I don’t agree with them, but, this is why we need to read these documents carefully.
Unfortunately, ID and Christine are right. He fought for those rules, why are they being relaxed? It’s a flag. It’s not a huge deal to take it down.
[quote]pushharder wrote:
[quote]Makavali wrote:
Unfortunately, ID and Christine are right. [/quote]
No, they are “legally right.” The adverb in this instance is required.[quote]
He fought for those rules…[/quote]
We’ll have to get that memo out to the military right away…they’ll get a kick out of that. Even the New Zealand forces who fought with Barfoot in '44 in Italy against the Nazis will be enamored with the fact they were fighting for Virginia homeowners association covenants.[/quote]
well maybe those “Virginia homeowners association covenants” are generous and charitable folk who pay their taxes, treat their tenants right, and all around good people. We are, after all, just hearing one side to this story.
[quote]pushharder wrote:
From the Halls of Montezuma
To the shores of Tripoli;
We fight our country’s battles
On the land as on the sea;
First to fight for homeowners’ covenants
And to keep our front yards clean (of flagpoles);
We are proud to claim the title
Of United States Marine.[/quote]
Semper Gumby always flexible
[quote]younggully wrote:
I own a condo, they have rules like that in the ‘by laws’. They made a lady take a Christmas wreath off of her door last year. I don’t agree with them, but, this is why we need to read these documents carefully.[/quote]
I used to own one as well. Any time anyone put something outside their door (wreath, welcome mat, anything) they’d get a letter indicating that they were “violating the aesthetic flow of the hallway”.
People who join condo and townhouse governing boards tend to be crusty old bags who held some degree of power/prestige in their career, but not enough to gain any real respect from the general population. Vice principals, assistant managers, superindentents…that kind of thing (lots of pharmacists, too). In a very petty way, stringently enforcing these stupid rules affords them some of the authority they never used to have while at their jobs.
As much as I feel bad for this veteran though…you sign it, you live by it. Condo and townhouse contracts tend to have their guidelines about altering the premises written in very plain English. He knew what he was getting into.
[quote]Iron Dwarf wrote:
You’re all crying over what OUGHT to be, what SHOULD be. But it it what it is, and like Christine said, the Col. bought his home under the Homeowners Association for the very benefits that it offered. He knew the rules. Nobody forced him to buy in that community. And he seems reasonable about its authority in that all he wants is to enter into a conversation about the matter he holds dear.
It’s not a perfect world. Don’t argue with me over it. Petition the homeowners association on the Col’s behalf.[/quote]
The first post suggested just what you posted.
The purpose of the thread was to HELP this amazing Medal of Honor winner who is displaying his patriotism.
If you don’t want to help, fine, but stop your bitching about why he shouldn’t be able to have a flag pole. It wasn’t to ask you to explain to him why the distinguished elderly man should have to suck it up. Especially as the nation is built on changing things if they aren’t promoting life, liberty and our pursuit of happiness. Remember the Revolution? The history of this country is a timeline of laws and rules being changed, even those that we enter into with full knowledge aforethought. For all you know that was the only place the man could afford to live. Or he lived there before his units were sold as a condo and he couldn’t afford to move out.
Either contact the HOA as suggested in the first post, or move along folks, nothing to see here.
On October 9, 2009, the portion of Mississippi Highway 16 which runs from Carthage through his hometown of Edinburg to the border between Leake and Neshoba counties was named the “Van T. Barfoot Medal Of Honor Highway”.
The man can have a portion of a highway named after him but can’t keep a flagpole in his front yard. The association’s bylaws do not forbid flagpoles, but the HOA ruled that he would not be allowed to use it “for aesthetic reasons”. How is a flagpole in the front yard any less “aesthetic” than one hanging off a house? He moved there in June and asked if he could put one up, denied in July, and then put the pole up anyhow in September. If there was no rule, no foul.
Numerous senators are intervening on his behalf in order to reach a compromise that would allow him to keep the flagpole. And in 2006 Pres. Bush signed a bill into law that bans homeowner associations from restricting a homeowners right to fly the flag. However, the pole itself must be part of a loophole they’re exploiting.
I agree with Push…“This guy should be able to erect a life size replica of the World Trade Towers with a flagpole the size of the sequoia on his property if he wants.”
And like OG said, contact the HOA, the law firm, senators, and anyone else you can think of to voice your opinion.
what kinda country doesn’t let you raise the country’s flag?
this is the dumbest shit i ever heard about. it sounds to me like these people are making a fuss b/c nowadays everyone seems like they have to make a fuss over seemingly normal things b/c of how many other people want to be treated ‘normal’ so all this p.c. bullshit happened. it doesn’t make any damn sense.
i bet you george bush wouldn’t let this shit go down.
Hey!!! how about that, a little revolution and things can change.
Barfoot gets to keep his flag pole.
See, you don’t always have to just sit back and take it, which is what I found surprising from some of you who seem to be the type to protest something you found unfair but were all for telling this guy he had no choice. There is always a choice. Take it, leave, or fight.
The only thing this guy needs (needed) help with is reading the fine print of his contract when he bought the house, which was part of a home owners association. Sounds to me like he could mount a flag on his house or porch or whatever, if he wanted to.
Home owners associations, or covenants, have all sorts of rules and regulations. My neighborhood covenant states that I can’t park my car on my yard. If I don’t like it, I can move to a different neighborhood.
And what does him having a MOH have to do with any of this? He’s a vet, woopty-fuckin-doo. There are vets all over this country. We (vets) are not exempt from following rules that anyone else has to follow.
Some of you lose all ability of rational thought when the issue involves an individual who is/was in the military.
[quote]viveDel781 wrote:
what kinda country doesn’t let you raise the country’s flag?
this is the dumbest shit i ever heard about. it sounds to me like these people are making a fuss b/c nowadays everyone seems like they have to make a fuss over seemingly normal things b/c of how many other people want to be treated ‘normal’ so all this p.c. bullshit happened. it doesn’t make any damn sense.
i bet you george bush wouldn’t let this shit go down.[/quote]
Your post doesn’t make any sense either.
[quote]Dustin wrote:
The only thing this guy needs (needed) help with is reading the fine print of his contract when he bought the house, which was part of a home owners association. Sounds to me like he could mount a flag on his house or porch or whatever, if he wanted to.
Home owners associations, or covenants, have all sorts of rules and regulations. My neighborhood covenant states that I can’t park my car on my yard. If I don’t like it, I can move to a different neighborhood.
And what does him having a MOH have to do with any of this? He’s a vet, woopty-fuckin-doo. There are vets all over this country. We (vets) are not exempt from following rules that anyone else has to follow.
Some of you lose all ability of rational thought when the issue involves an individual who is/was in the military. [/quote]
Get over yourself.
Barfoot is a fighter and he fought for what he believed in and won.
When will everyone learn that this nation was created by people who broke the rules?
And YOU Dustin… have lost the ability to understand the actual meaning of a situation.
Barfoot fought and won again.
RICHMOND, Va. (Dec. 9) – A 90-year-old Medal of Honor winner can keep his 21-foot flagpole in his front yard after a homeowners association dropped its request to remove it, a spokesman for Democratic Virginia Sen. Mark Warner said Tuesday.
The Sussex Square homeowners association likewise has agreed to drop threats to take legal action against retired Army Col. Van T. Barfoot, Warner spokesman Kevin Hall said.
The association had threatened to take Barfoot to court if he failed to remove the pole from his suburban Richmond home by Friday. It had said the pole violated the neighborhood’s aesthetic guidelines.
Neither Barfoot’s daughter, Margaret Nicholls, nor homeowners association president Glenn Wilson has returned telephone messages.
Dropping the issue effectively ends a request that White House press secretary Robert Gibbs on Monday called “silly.”
Warner and Sen. Jim Webb, both Virginia Democrats, had rallied behind Barfoot, a World War II veteran.
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In a letter last week, Webb urged the association to “consider the exceptional nature of Col. Barfoot’s service when considering his pride and determination in honoring our flag.”
Barfoot’s fight also has lit up veterans bulletin boards and blog sites supporting him.
Barfoot won the Medal of Honor for actions while his platoon was under German assault near Carano, Italy, in May 1944. He was credited with standing up to three German tanks with a bazooka and stopping their advance.
He also won the Purple Heart and other decorations, and served in Korea and Vietnam before retiring from the service in 1974.
I’m glad to hear he’s able to keep his flag and pole…
I too used to live in a strata that had rules around what you could/couldn’t do and I agree with Iron Dwarf that the looney requests of owners necessitate such a rule. We had people that wanted to plant a huge vegetable garden and compost boxes on the front lawn of our complex.
That said, this homeowners association could have easily ammended a bylaw to allow this one flag pole, or perhaps move the pole to a more central location for the benefit of the entire complex (this would have been my choice if I was them). Heck, depending on when he moved into the complex, if it was new, he could have easily had his flag pole allowed through a grandfather clause…
Sometimes (most cases actually) these associations/strata councils, etc. are a bunch of folks that want to feel important, so they do everything in their power to make everyone aware of how important they are (perceived or not) by doing these stupid, stupid things…
I’m really glad he won…
This story actually reminds me of what happened to friend of mine who served the British army in both Gulf Wars…
He contracted cancer when he was younger, fought it and won… But after the last Gulf War, it came back…
The British government refused to pay for a medication (yeah, it’s expensive, but it was known to work with his type of cancer) that would possibly treat him…
His regiment, his family, his friends did a major fund raising event and eventually raised enough cash to cover the medication, but my friend passed away a week before.
It was all over the British papers, but the government refused to budge on their decision to pay for his drugs…
It definitely left a bad taste in my mouth for some of these bureaucrats/associations/tin gods, and I really wonder how they sleep at night…
I don’t really see how this is an issue at all.
Maybe he should move somewhere without a homeowner’s association if he wants to put up ugly flagpoles on his property and not have anybody care.
[quote]Tumbles wrote:
I don’t really see how this is an issue at all.
Maybe he should move somewhere without a homeowner’s association if he wants to put up ugly flagpoles on his property and not have anybody care.[/quote]
It isn’t an issue. He fought for his rights and he won.
Its amazing he lived through whatever he did to get the Medal of Honor but he’s also got a silver star, a bronze star and 3 purple hearts.