Have you ever wondered why American Soldiers wear the flag patch backwards on just the right side of their arm?

The basic answer is: they are brave!

This flag is symbolic of the men who used to march into battle with an actual flag. So steady and strong that the flag would blow behind them. On the arms of our soldiers, the flag faces as if being carried into battle, blowing behind them.

Ray Saelens poses in front of his 50-foot flagpole with the citation he received after a neighbor complained about the flag's loud flapping.

Associated Press
Feb. 7, 2003 08:14 AM

CHESTERFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. - It's a flap over a flapping flag.

A man who installed a 50-foot flag poll after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks was ticketed after a neighbor said the flag's flapping made too much noise.

Ray Saelens says the sight and sound of an American flag whipping in the wind has special meaning.

"To me, the noise of the flag is the voices of everyone who's died for this country," the 51-year-old mason told The Macomb Daily of Mount Clemens for a story Thursday.

But next-door neighbor Mark Grucz complained, saying the flapping of the flag bothered him, and police issued Saelens a warning.

In response, Saelens switched to a polyester flag designed to be quieter. "Never in a million years did I think I would bother someone by flying a flag," he said.

On Monday, a police officer cited him for violating the local noise ordinance.

"He could hardly look me in the eye," Saelens said.

Township police spokesman Jim Gates said the dispute was unprecedented, and the department had no choice but to issue a ticket when someone complains about noise.

It is up to the court to decide between the neighbors, he said.

Meanwhile, Saelens says he will fight to keep the flag flying.

"You're going to have to pry it out of my hands," he said.

David N. Posavetz/The Macomb Daily