Flag raised for Brit hostages

Washington Times:

A single British flag will be raised among more than 400 U.S. flags at a cemetery in Pennsylvania today as a symbol of friendship and solidarity with the people of the United Kingdom and the 15 British sailors and marines seized in the Persian Gulf last month by Iranian forces.
The Union Jack will be raised in Hillcrest Memorial Park's Avenue of Flags, which became a symbol of American-held hostages after the 1979 takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.
"This is where a new U.S. flag was erected on each of the 444 days the Americans were held hostage in Iran," said Tom Flynn, president of the 80-acre memorial park in Hermitage, Pa.
He said the British flag will be flown until the British troops are returned home safely. It will replace a U.S. banner that will be removed from the Avenue of Flags by a Veterans of Foreign Wars honor guard and presented to the father of the late Lt. Col. Michael E. McLaughlin of the Army National Guard, who was killed in Iraq on Jan. 5, 2006.
Col. McLaughlin, a resident of nearby Mercer, was one of five military personnel who died at the hands of a suicide bomber during the dedication of a new police station in Iraq. Mr. Flynn said Col. McLaughlin's father will raise the British flag.
"The raising of the U.K. flag will hopefully elevate people's awareness of this serious action of aggression by the Iranians. We think it's the right thing to do to show support for our friends and allies."
Mr. Flynn said he originally raised the flags -- which are illuminated at night -- to honor the Americans held hostage in Iran to help his two sons, then preadolescents, understand the plight of the hostages.
"We raised 100 flags on the 100th day the Americans had been held hostage" and went on from there, with a new flag for each day they continued to be held, he said. "We've gone through 15,000 flags."
The British flag will be positioned along a walkway, so people will have easy access to place their notes, flowers and well-wishes.
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It is unfortunate that Britain's European allies do not share our position on the egregious conduct of the Iranians. They are in a position to assert influence, but instead refuse to interfere with their commerce to the evil regime in Tehran. People in the UK should remember who their friends are when the it counts.