To the Editor:

We have a Little League baseball field west of the town of Berne on Route 443. At this field, we have two United States flags on display there.

One flag is displayed directly east of home plate high on a pole. The other flag is displayed near a plaque honoring the names of residents who have served in the United States Armed Forces from the Hilltowns and town of Berne.

The display of honor is great, but these flags are not illuminated, or are they ever taken down? They fly in all weather — winter, summer, spring, and fall.

There is another pole that has a light attached that is set up on a dusk-to-dawn sensor, which turns on a flood light at dusk to shine down on a fuse box that is also attached to this pole. It shuts off this light at dawn, running this cycle 24/7.

I think a better use of this power would be to mount two floodlights at the very top of the pole — one directed to the east toward the United States flag and the other floodlight towards the United States flag honoring the Hilltown veterans.

I think it is pretty bad that some of the same Little League players who are playing on this field today are going to be asked to honor and protect the very same flag tomorrow when they are sent off to some far-away land that their fathers and mothers don’t bother to protect now in their own backyard.

Rodney Mattison

Berne

Editor’s note: See related editorial.