A true patriot, one U.S. Marine said hoisting an American flag in his front yard was one of the first freedoms he took advantage of when he finally stepped on U.S. soil — until that soldier discovered raising a flag in his hometown was no longer a freedom.
Just days after he placed a flag pole in his front yard to proudly fly his American flag, U.S. Marine corps veteran Gregory Schaffer was issued a citation from the Town of Hypoluxo, FL.
WPNot quite the homecoming he was expecting.
One neighbor must have found the star spangled banner an eye sore and decided to file a complaint with the city.
They city was forced to give the citation, because the pole is considered a structure and requires a building permit, which Schaffer doesn’t have. “It’s sad. It’s sad that we have to go through that just to fly a flag,” Schaffer told WPTV.
In order to apply for the permit, Schaffer must hire a third party contractor because he is renting the house — a fee that could cost the veteran up to $1,000. “It’s disgusting that anybody should have to go through that,” Schaffer said to WPTV. “I fought for the flag, now I’m paying for the flag.”
But Schaffer still isn’t giving up on the American flag. He has 30 days to complete the necessary steps for the building permit.
“Everyone should be able to see that [American flag] and have that hit them somehow,” he said.
Despite having to jump through so many hoops just to fly the flag, the Marine says he has no beef with the neighbor who filed the complaint in the first place. Schaffer said it was his duty overseas to protect people’s right to free speech.
“I respect their right to be able to file a complaint and handle things the way they did,” he told the WPTV reporter. “Do I respect what they did? No. I respect their ability to do so.”
A true hero everyone.
