Cemetery Allows Father of Soldier Killed in Iraq to Fly Flag at Grave
July 28, 2010 -
The father of an Illinois soldier who died in Iraq has reached an agreement with a cemetery that will allow him to fly the American flag atop the 10-foot flagpoles that bookend his son’s memorial.
Army Cpl. Albert Bitton was killed by a roadside bomb in 2008. For the past two and a half years the poles have displayed an American flag and an MIA/POW flag, one on each side of Bitton’s headstone. It’s a monument that his father, Elie Bitton, visits three times a day.
Elie Bitton told Fox News it felt like he was “burning inside” when the cemetery’s new manager, Ron Graeff, told him last week he would have to take down the flags and flowers around the grave because they violate the cemetery’s rules.
The cemetery permits American, Israeli and Army Airborne flags to be displayed, but flagpoles may not be taller than 4 feet.
“My heart is broken,” Bitton said Wednesday. “He was my only son.”
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