A New Appetite for Old Glory

By Emi Endo | STAFF WRITER

September 16, 2001

They fluttered on Long Island Expressway overpasses, westbound and eastbound. Waved from the antennas of sports cars and SUVs. Hugged the sides of above-ground swimming pools. And they flapped from front porches from Port Washington to Patchogue.

While American flags outside government buildings were flying at half-staff in somber respect for the victims of Tuesday's terrorist attacks, residents all over Long Island and much of the nation last week were raising the flag in a show of support, solidarity and defiance.

In many cases, it was the only action they could take when they were feeling frustrated and helpless - a visible gesture when words were not enough.

"This means our freedom," said mechanic Anthony Melograne, 21, of Massapequa Park, holding up a white plastic shopping bag containing a new 6-by-10-foot flag.

The displays of Old Glory appeared to have been prompted in part by encouragement from radio personalities and lawmakers. The U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution Thursday asking citizens to fly the flag for the next 30 days.

But patriotic impulse was a strong motivating factor. As the week wore on, the demand for flags overwhelmed stores.

In Rockville Centre, dozens of residents eager to snap up a flag or two lined up at the Mineola Flag shop Thursday morning. By 2 p.m., the swamped store had sold out of regular American flags, and customers were picking over bicentennial or Betsy Ross flags - even flags of other countries, provided they were American allies.

John Kirsch, owner of the store on Sunrise Highway, said the demand was "10 times more" than during the "Desert Storm" campaign against Iraq in 1991. Then, most customers were elderly veterans, while this time the crowd came from "every age group," Kirsch said.

In Farmingdale, BeeKay Parade Equipment owner Leo Baram said he had to temporarily take the phone off the hook because so many walk-in customers had found the office of his mail-order business. "We're selling flags like crazy," he said.

Many Long Islanders intended their flags as symbols of defiance.

Clutching a new flag, Judy Peterson, 41, with daughter Lindsey Johnson, 8, in tow, said, "You've got to show your support for the country. We're going to stand fast."

The flag, she said, stood for freedom: "We have the right to do what we want." Peterson, of Freeport, said she planned to hoist the big flag outside her garage, while Lindsey said her small one would go up in her bedroom.

Kay Metzner of Rockville Centre said simply, "It's our country. It's been here for a long time and it'll be here for a long time."

Others meant to offer a sign of encouragement to passersby in the wake of the disastrous terrorist attacks in New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania.

"It just uplifts spirits for the people," said Jim O'Hare, 30, of Bellmore. "There's not too many things words could say." He planned to put up a flag he had bought at Mineola Flag in his apartment, where he had been waiting for his roommate, a police officer, to return from volunteering at the disaster site in lower Manhattan.

Some residents said that along with donating blood, flying the flag was a productive alternative to passively taking in nonstop television news coverage.

"Living on Long Island . . . you just watch from a distance," said Melograne, who on Friday was at his shop in Freeport readying a flagpole next to homemade signs that read in part, "You are not forgotten." He said he donated blood Wednesday and planned to volunteer to bring food to rescue workers during the weekend.

Peter Schmitt, commander of the American Legion Post in Northport, braved the rain Friday to put flags up along the village's downtown streets. "I want to show the people of Northport we're standing together on this," he said.

For some, the inspiration to put up a flag came from a sudden, surprising burst of patriotism.

Chris Page, 27, of Coram, described himself as a "typical Gen-X-er" who hadn't given much thought before to the notion of freedom. But as soon as he realized the country had been attacked, he bought a flag to drape over the outside of the door of his white Volvo sedan. He also decorated his truck with smaller flags left over from Independence Day.

After the terrorist attacks last week, Page said he began to "realize how much we take for granted. It's sacred to be in a country and have so much freedom."