A thug decided to steal a veteran’s flag after seeing him saluting it each day. The thief walked up to rip down the flag, thinking the veteran couldn’t do anything since he was blind. They had no idea they had just made a very big mistake.
Howard Banks, a 92-year-old World War II veteran who’s legally blind, flies Old Glory outside of his Kaufman, Texas home. Having been blinded by a flare during his service to his country, one would think people would leave the old man alone to live out his years in peace, but sadly, that’s not the case. Years after serving during wartime, he’s still defending our flag.
Sadly, our flag has become a symbol of controversy and division, and someone took issue with Banks flying the American and Marine Corps flags outside of his home — more than once. While there are those who believe the flag represents all the good and freedoms our country has to offer and fly it with pride in honor of those who served to defend it, others feel America has failed to provide liberty and justice for all. The latter takes issue with the symbol of our great nation and refuse to honor the emblem of our country.
Regardless of where you fall when it comes to your feelings on our country and our flag, most would agree that everyone has the right to do what they please when it comes to their own property and displaying the flag. Unfortunately, at least one thug didn’t feel this way when they saw Banks’ flying the flag outside his Texas home. Choosing to disrespect the flag, the degenerate also tried to infringe on the veteran’s rights — but the war hero wasn’t about to be violated without a fight.
As the blind veteran was minding his own business, he heard his flag being pulled down, and since this wasn’t the first time someone had vandalized his property, targeting his flags, he had a good idea of what was going on outside. The suspect likely thought the old man was an easy target since he couldn’t see, but they made one big mistake. He could hear just fine.
Recognizing the noise right away, the elderly man leaped into action the best he could, rushing outside to find out what was going on. That’s when Banks caught the thugs in the act. But, the depraved individuals decided to take their disrespect one step further.
“I walked out, hanging onto the railing and stepped down. That must’ve startled them,” Banks recalled. “They could see me. I couldn’t see them. I turned and looked in the other direction, and about then – ‘wham!’ They knocked me down.”
Although Banks took a hit and was injured in the chaos that ensued, he successfully defended his American flag. The thug was forced to run off without it. Not to be discouraged and wanting to make his disgust with the veteran’s patriotic sentiments known, the vandal ripped down the old man’s “God Bless All Police” sign and threw it across the yard. Still, things didn’t go according to plan for this thug at all.
Rather than teach the old man a lesson about his display of the flag, the thug’s attack had the opposite effect. There’s no doubt the vandal hoped to discourage the veteran from honoring the flag, but he was far from successful in his efforts. Not only did the veteran defend the flag, he then received an outpouring of support after neighbors heard the scuffle and came running to the elderly man’s aid.