Editor, Gazette-Journal:

It was a sunny Saturday morning, shortly before Memorial Day. As I sat in my pajamas on my back deck, I thought it might be a good time to introduce my two young grandsons to how we should regard our flag and pay tribute to our fallen heroes. I called them together at our flag pole, along with my son and daughter in-law and my wife. I instructed my grandsons on how they should stand at attention as the flag would be raised and they promptly fell into position. I announced that we had a special invited singer (my wife) who would sing the Star Spangled Banner as the flag was raised. Just before that, however, my son explained that today we were remembering and honoring the veterans who have given their lives so that we may enjoy the freedoms that we have.

The flag went up, we all sang the Star Spangled Banner, and applauded as the flag reached the top of the pole. The applause died down and as we looked down, a pure white pigeon descended from the sky and l...