Legionnaire, flag advocate passes away
Vietnam War veteran, longtime Legionnaire, and flag advocate Adrian Cronauer passed away July 18 at a nursing home in Troutville, Va. He was 79.
The late actor Robin Williams initially helped make a name for Cronauer when he portrayed him in the 1987 hit movie, “Good Morning, Vietnam!” As a young Air Force disc jockey for the Armed Forces Radio in Saigon, Cronauer helped boost the morale of homesick U.S. servicemembers with that signature wake-up call. He also is widely known for his advocacy efforts to protect the U.S. flag from desecration.
In a letter he wrote for the Chicago Tribune in 1997, Cronauer said that the movie showed “how frequently I annoyed the Saigon brass by fighting against military censorship. Those scenes demonstrate how we can inform, entertain and even inspire each other if we push the limits of the First Amendment. You could say most of my life has been spent defending the First Amendment.”
His defense of the First Amendment focused on protecting the U.S. flag from physical desecration. His letter continued:
“I have heard people, some of whom have risked their lives in defense of the American flag, speak passionately and eloquently about the need to protect this precious national symbol from any type of physical desecration. Numerous hours spent listening to conversations such as these have caused me to realize how strongly individuals, both veterans and non-vets, identify with the flag.
“(The flag) represents things that are uncommonly powerful, both intellectually and emotionally – love of country, the country itself, patriotism, and the sacrifices that have been made on behalf of our nation for generations.
“I have come to the conclusion that the flag has a ‘secular sacredness’ which entitles it to a special form of constitutional protection. This protection, I believe, can be achieved without setting a dangerous precedent of undermining the First Amendment. In fact, because it actually amends the Constitution, the proposed flag amendment shields the flag while leaving our right to free speech undisturbed.”
Cronauer was a board of director member for Citizens Flag Alliance (CFA), which, in August 1994, The American Legion announced the creation of. CFA is a coalition of organizations and individual citizens united to work for a constitutional amendment to protect the U.S. flag from physical desecration.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1989 that the First Amendment protected the right to desecrate the flag as a means of free expression. The American Legion continues to advocate for the appropriate care of respect for the flag of the United States.
“The stars and stripes is a symbol ... it does not stand for a particular opinion. It stands for the values that we don’t always uphold but certainly aspire to,” Cronauer wrote.