Mail box for May 14: National flags are more than symbols

The United States is a nation of immigrants! It is an often cited and generally valid argument used by those sympathetic to the plight of the undocumented Mexican people who cross the border to seek what America has to offer.

I am a descendent of German immigrants from Russia. There are many like me here in Weld County. Their ancestors hail from Sweden, Greece, Holland, Japan, Mexico, the Baltic States and the Balkan States. They came from around the world, many of them seeking refuge from poverty, oppression and starvation. Still others came in the pursuit of opportunity and prosperity. They brought little with them and endured many hardships to get here.

They packed their bags with clothes, heirlooms, the bare essentials of life, and hope. They left behind family members, friends and all that was familiar to them to seek a new life. They left their national flags behind as well. Those flags were symbols of the oppression and poverty they were fleeing. They had a new flag to pledge allegiance to. It was a symbol of the hope they brought with them, and of the freedom and opportunity they desired. It was the national ensign of the United States of America, and they were proud to fly it. They fought to fly it. Many of them died for us so that we may continue to fly it.

I'm reminded of this each time I see a Mexican flag or slogans pledging allegiance to Chihuahua displayed in the rear window of a vehicle.

Tom Schemp, Greeley