Flag raising ceremonies are supposed to be full of respect, patriotism and honor.

And so it was, almost, for the raising of the POW-MIA flag outside the Adams County Courthouse last month.

That bright December morning, Natchez resident and former World War II prisoner of war Robert Mims, carefully and deliberately delivered the black flag to the color guard waiting by the flagpole.

The small audience of onlookers watched in reverent silence. A group of Vietnam veterans stood proudly with their hats in their hands.

As the cameras rolled, the leader of the color guard saluted. Mims presented the flag and saluted.

To that point, the ceremony resembled thousands of other flag ceremonies acted out through the years and across the country.

Like singing the national anthem or saying the Pledge of Allegiance, flag raising ceremonies are meant to look and sound alike. They are expressions of unity and pride of country, after all.

Unfortunately something unusual happened in front of the courthouse steps — the flag would not go up the flagpole.

The chain that ran up the pole, through the pulley at the top and back down inside the pole would not budge. Apparently the chain had either become tangled or the pulley rusted.

Five people had to muscle the flag up the pole. Using all their strength, the leader and another color guard officer yanked on the chain. A local junior ROTC member used the end of a broom handle to guide the chain up the pole. A county maintenance worker walked from behind the scenes to help.

With each pull, the chain screeched and the flag inched its way up the pole. What was to have taken mere seconds, lasted several minutes.

Despite the uncomfortable experience of watching the five men struggle to perform this simple task, the attention of the assembled crowd never wavered.

Obviously several questions ran through my head as I watched the spectacle.

Hadn’t anyone checked the flagpole before the ceremony? Does the flagpole ever receive regular maintenance? How long has it been since anyone has taken the flags down?

Others in the crowd may have been asking the same questions.

To be honest, there was a brief moment when I felt embarrassment for the color guard, for area prisoners of war and for the veterans assembled.

The flag raisers completed their unexpected duties with composure while my thoughts continued.

“Isn’t patriotism like that flagpole?” I thought.

Many of us take for granted the freedoms that have been given to us in this country, like the ceremony planners who took for granted that the county flagpole would work properly.

A recent newspaper article remarked that patriotism has never been so low-maintenance as now. There was time when supporting the troops meant personal sacrifice, they said. Now many of us go along in life wearing our flag lapel pins and putting magnetic emblems on our car thinking that we have done enough.

Like the color guard struggling with the flagpole, we never realize how much we take for granted until we too are faced with adversity.

I am thankful that December’s flag ceremony reminded me of the regular maintenance my patriotism requires.

I am sure that no ones knows that more than the prisoners of war the county’s new flag represents.

Ben Hillyer is the Web editor of The Natchez Democrat. He can be reached at 601-445-3540 or by e-mail at ben.hillyer@natchezdemocrat.com.