Angry veterans packed Whitehall Township’s public meeting room Monday night to protest the removal of the POW-MIA flag from the pole in front of the municipal building during a Syrian-American independence celebration in April.
The issue, the veterans contended during the Board of Commissioners meeting, is that Mayor Ed Hozza Jr. decided to take down the POW-MIA flag and replace it with the Syrian flag. They said that was not only a breach of flag etiquette but a violation of federal law and a slap in the face to the U.S. military.
Hozza, however, said he was not aware that moving the flag temporarily was a violation of the law, that he and his family are active supporters of the U.S. armed forces, and that as mayor he represents all of Whitehall, including a sizable Syrian-American community.
Tempers flared as veterans and military families took to the mic to express their anger at Hozza. A few sparks flew on the board as well, as President Linda Snyder accused Hozza of making the decision unilaterally, rather than asking the others on the board for their input. She challenged him to explain the comment she’d heard him make on WFMZ-TV that “we made the decision” to fly the Syrian flag.
“Who is ‘we’?” she asked.
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