Feeling Useful: Yellow doesn't mean cowardice.
by Nancy Ahern
If you look at the top of this page, you'll see a graphic
of a yellow ribbon. If you look on the blouses and jackets
of many people -- from grocery store cashiers to businessmen,
you may see these icons in the form of thin satin ribbons,
jeweled pins, or pictures printed on plastic buttons.
Yellow ribbons, and their cousins the red, pink, white, blue,
green, black, and purple ones, are ways people can feel connected
to a cause they believe in.
In this case, the cause is to remember our men and women
who are fighting and dying in Iraq. To wish them home again,
safe.
You all may remember the song from the early seventies, written
by Irvin Levine and L. Russell Brown, and made vastly popular
by the pop singing group Tony Orlando and Dawn. The song was
based on a story about a Civil War soldier, returning by stage
coach, who'd sent a letter to his sweetheart to let her know
he was on his way home, and hoping she'd welcome him home.
She was to wave her yellow handkerchief by the old oak tree
in the town square if she wanted him to return. Levine and
Brown changed it to that of an ex-con who'd served his time,
returning after three years of incarceration, and his lady
love was to tie a yellow ribbon on the tree.
But yellow ribbons as remembrances of missing loved ones
have a longer tradition than that, according to one woman
whose research was
published back in 1991, at the start of the first part
of the Gulf War.
Marilyn Leary reminds us that the tradition of wearing scarves
and ribbons as remembrances goes back at least to the Middle
Ages, when knights wore the "favors" of their ladies. This
tradition was reversed in 19th century America with respect
the Army's 7th Cavalry, the uniforms of which has yellow piping
down the side. According to Ms. Leary, the women folk of these
brave soldiers would wear yellow ribbons 'round their necks
to proclaim loyalty and pride in their men. The early 20th
century captured the spirit of this with the song "Around
her Neck She Wore a Yellow Ribbon", and the mid-twentieth
century's John Wayne movie "She Wore A Yellow Ribbon."
Yellow ribbons came to symbolize pride in our soldiers. It
was resurrected in a big way during the Hostage Crisis in
Iran, and has returned time and again, whenever we have sent
many of our husbands, brothers, father, sisters, mothers and
friends overseas to fight on behalf of freedom.
Some may consider it an empty, useless gesture. It's easy
to pin a yellow ribbon to your shirt, or display it on a web
site. It's much, much more difficult to actually go, serve
our country, or make some other, more meaningful gesture of
support.
Try telling this to a small town in New Jersey. The townsfolk
in Fieldsboro, New Jersey have been rallying to show their
support for their sons and daughters -- sons and daughters
who were thrilled to see this public show of support.
Don't forget that these youngsters are out doing some hard,
dirty, dangerous and frightening work. They need to know that
their families and friends are behind them. This is where
the yellow ribbons become more than a useless gesture. This
is where yellow ribbons do their real work.
Their mayor, Edward "Buddy" Tyler, felt yellow ribbons were
a bad idea. He and his council banned them on municipal property.
They apparently "violated a local ordinance banning displays
on public property." He stated, "Every town is supposed to
have a sign so emergency services know where the town begins,"
he said. "We can't have the sign covered. But we figure there
will be no action, as long as it's not covering up the words."
The photo accompanying this
news article shows that this was not the case. But it
goes further than that. Someone complained about the yellow
ribbons, and wondered about "what if other colors were displayed,
or a Confederate Flag?" Thus what was to be a show of support
for American men and women who were risking their lives became
a slimy, political-correctness battle.
And that is all it amounts to. Letting people like Pfc. Jessica
Lynch know that they are loved and supported is not
a political statement the way draping a Confederate Flag is.
The small-town Jersey mayor and his council are weak-kneed
politicians. They are to be pitied and despised. Nevertheless,
I am heartened by the outcry and the strong show of civil
disobedience enjoyed in that town, as the townspeople go out
of their way to festoon every square inch of their town with
yellow ribbons.
©
2003 Tocqevillian Magazine
