Students at Delaware Christian Academy got a special Flag Day presentation Tuesday morning when they were visited by State Sen. Kris Jordan, Delaware County Sheriff Russell Martin and two Vietnam veterans who spoke about the observance.
Martin began the event by reading a book about Betsy Ross to the preschool students.
“According to legend, the seamstress Betsy Ross created the first American flag,” Martin told the students.
The book described Ross cutting and stitching the red, white and blue shapes of the flag until they resembled the original flag.
“It represents all this country stands for,” Martin said. “We stand united as citizens of this country.”
Harold Wolford, president of Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 1095, and fellow Vietnam veteran John Crouse then gave the students a lesson about the United States Flag Code and described what the colors on the flag stand for.
Wolford told students that each star represents a state and there have been 39 different designs of the flag as states have been added to the union. Wolford said the last state added was Hawaii in 1960 and, since then, the flag has stayed the same.
Wolford told students the blue in the flag represents the sky and the red stripes represent the blood shed in service of the United States. Finally, Wolford told students that the white symbolized the purity of America as “One Nation, Under God.”
Jordan then told students about the Ohio flag and how it is the only state flag that isn’t a rectangle.
“Thank you guys for paying attention and remember to respect [the flag] and learn your history,” Jordan told students.
Martin came to the event as part of “Fight Crime: Invest in Kids,” a national organization comprised of thousands of law enforcement officers who believe working with kids in their early years has a positive impact on their future.
“It’s the value of quality early education and the advantage it gives later in life,” Martin said. He added that the country is facing tough times and hoped the icon of the flag will remind them that “we are one people, united.”
For Crouse, the event was about more than the flag.
“This is why we served,” said Crouse, a former specialist in the U.S. Army. “This is what it’s all about.”
