Saturday morning at JBC’s men’s breakfast, we started by saying the Pledge of Allegiance. I can’t remember the last time I was at an event that started that way. I thought to myself as we were reciting it together, “My Dad would have appreciated this.” Dad served in World War II, had four aircraft carriers sunk under him, and spent 22 years in the Navy. I was 12 years old when Dad retired from the Navy, and during those years we were often stationed on a Navy base. Every evening, the flag was lowered, and someone played Taps on a trumpet or cornet. We could usually hear it from our house. No matter what he was doing, Dad would stand at attention and salute, and we kids were expected to stand and put our hands over our hearts. Occasionally, Dad would give a little lecture on why we did that. I don’t remember much of what he said except that the key word was honor. We were honoring the flag, and as such, we were honoring our country and all those who had died in war over the years so we could be free. It was a really big deal to my dad, and a very easy way to get in trouble with him was to fool around during the playing of Taps. My Dad was a patriot, and honoring our flag, country, and veterans was a very important part of his patriotism. It was the right thing to do.