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Veterans' flags should be left alone
To the editor:
Veterans have given their heart and soul and even their lives to make this country a better place for them and their descendents.
My sister and I visited our father's grave at Juniata Memorial Park recently. Our father, Robert Conpropst Jr., was a veteran, highly respected business owner and assistant fire chief in Lewistown who served his community and country for many years.
We were terribly disappointed to find the flag holder for our father had been stolen. There was a fresh hole where it had been removed and it was apparent this was very recent.
It saddened us that he did not have a flag to honor his service in World War II. But what made us more upset was that someone would dishonor their deceased relative by stealing from another veteran. The deceased veteran would NEVER have condoned this.
A veteran ALWAYS stands with their fellow veterans and would never accept a flag holder taken from another veteran. Can you imagine if everyone just swapped flag holders from others and used them as their own if theirs was missing? This would never end.
We called The Veterans Affairs office in the Mifflin County Courthouse and supplied them with our father's military credentials and they will supply us with a new flag holder and flag. I want this information to be made public so that the individual who decided to help himself to our father's flag holder will hopefully be more courteous in the future.
Audrey Conpropst Schwalm
Hegins
Shirley Conpropst Johnson
St. Pete Beach, Fla.