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Letter: The flag should always be at half-staff

(Al Hartmann | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Dept. of Public Safety employees stand in silence as Utah Highway Patrol honor guard raises the American flag to half staff in a 9-11 flag ceremony in West Valley City Monday Sept. 11.

We fly our flag at half-staff for those who lose their lives in the line of duty, whether law enforcement or military or in the political arena.

Why not for every single veteran who commits suicide after having found out that war was more than what is depicted in movies and video games?

Why not for those homeless who die of neglect in alleyways? Why not for those who continue to be murdered in racially motivated hate crimes? Why not for those who die in various situations brought on by prescription overdoses in the name of big pharmaceutical profits?

They all deserve a traffic-halting motorcade to their final resting places just as much as the affluent others receive, as glorified in the media.

Our flag would then be at half-staff on a daily basis, and those of us still living may finally come to our senses and understand that our country is declining all too quickly along with our environment.

John Schneider, Salt Lake City

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