To the editor:

To quote from a poem by Charles M. Province, a veteran of the U.S. Army:

It is the Soldier, not the minister

Who has given us freedom of religion.

It is the Soldier, not the reporter

Who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the Soldier, not the poet

Who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the Soldier who salutes the flag,

Who serves beneath the flag,

And whose coffin is draped by the flag,

Who allows the protestor to burn the flag.

This expresses far more eloquently than I could my feelings in response to your editorial of July 13 supporting the removal of a piece of art using the American flag from its display on a flagpole at KU’s campus.

The soldier has indeed given and continues to protect our rights in America. We live in a wonderful country made more so by diversity and, ultimately, tolerance for each other’s differences. When we can no longer trust and honor those things for which the soldiers fought, we are in danger of losing that which makes America the country we love.

Gretchen West,

Lawrence