2 mass shootings, 2 presidential orders, 2 phone calls to get flag lowered at veterans center

Editor’s note: This story has been updated with comment from Bryan Moore, commander of the American Legion Post in Maricopa.

On Monday, a man armed with an AR-15 style pistol shot 10 people dead at a supermarket in Boulder, Colorado. One of the victims was a police officer who had seven children.

The next day, President Joe Biden ordered flags flown at half-staff in honor of Ofc. Eric Talley and the nine other victims of the mass shooting.

In his proclamation, the president said that “as a mark of respect for the victims of the senseless acts of violence perpetrated on March 22, 2021, in Boulder, Colorado … I hereby order that the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff at the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions until sunset, March 27, 2021.”

Early Wednesday afternoon, however, the U.S. flag flew atop the pole at the Maricopa Veterans Center on Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway.

The Stars and Stripes might still be at full-staff at the home of the local Veterans of Foreign War and American Legion posts if Jack Podojil had not picked up the phone mid-afternoon Thursday and called an official with the VFW Department of Arizona to report the flag had not been lowered.

Bryan Moore, post commander for the American Legion and a member of the VFW, said Friday he thought the story was unfair and reflected badly on the center given how much veterans do for the community. He noted the money personally raised by members for outdoor equipment at Pacana Park and the many flag raisings conducted annually on Memorial Day, Fourth of July, the anniversary of 9/11 and other occasions.

While admitting the center may have missed a flag lowering, he said many members are busy with full-time jobs and some senior members are still staying at home to be safe during the pandemic. Moore said he has worked many, many hours of overtime this month and had just two days off.

It was the second time in a week that Podojil, a disabled Vietnam Veteran with more than 17 years in the military, including service in the Navy, Arizona National Guard and Army Reserves, had picked up the phone.

On March 18, two days after a series of mass shootings in the Atlanta area left eight people dead, Biden ordered flags flown at half-staff in memory of the victims.

When the flag at the veterans center was not lowered, Podojil picked up the phone for the first time and called the state VFW official. The flag was subsequently lowered and then raised again after Biden’s first order for the Atlanta victims expired at sunset on March 22, the same day of the Boulder shootings.

Podojil, a lifelong member of both the VFW and American Legion, was part of the original VFW charter in Maricopa about 2005. He has since left the groups, dissatisfied with leadership.

“The flag should be flying at half-staff, especially since one of the (Boulder) victims lost was a police officer,” he said Wednesday. “That is the president’s order. The (veterans) center should have lowered the flag. It is the right thing to do.”