Marine veteran upset by desecration of U.S. flag by Nashville students

A U.S. Marine veteran and his wife were shocked when they witnessed two students outside a Catholic elementary school desecrating the American flag.

According to WZTV, the veteran’s wife sent an email to a local TV station, describing the incident. She stated that she and her husband were visiting from central Illinois and caught the scene on their dashcam video.

The email stated that they saw two students outside the school desecrating the American flag as they were retiring it for the evening.

“They dropped it to the ground, raced it back up the pole upside down, wrapped it around their bodies, played tug-of-war with it, and dragged it around the yard,” the email said.

The Blaze reported that the principal of Christ the King School said a teacher intervened after the video had stopped recording the fourth-graders.

“They were caught and disciplined right away,” said Principal Sherry Woodman, adding the students faced “appropriate consequences according to our discipline policy.”

WZTV reported that the school’s athletic director is an Iraq war vet and plans to speak to the fourth-grade class about what the American flag means to him.

“We honor the flag here at our school,” Woodman said. “It is a symbol of our country. It is a part of our curriculum and we take part in the allegiance after prayer every day.”

Woodman said that fourth-graders are trained at the beginning of the school year on how to properly handle a flag before they are allowed to raise and lower it, but retraining is being planned.