City Council Rejects Flying of S. Vietnam Flag in Westminster

WESTMINSTER —  It has been a spring ritual in recent years: the flags of the United States and the defunct Republic of South Vietnam fluttering together from city light poles to mark the anniversary of the fall of Saigon.

This year, though, the flags might not fly.

In what some observers say reflects a growing rift between non-Vietnamese residents and Vietnamese immigrants, the Westminster City Council on Tuesday night rejected this year’s request to use city light poles to fly the flags in tandem for a week, questioning whether the display would show proper respect for the American flag.

The decision angered members of the Vietnamese community, while the debate pitted veterans groups against each other and sent simmering differences over expressions of citizenship into a full boil.

Ironically, the symbolism of a flag has once again brought to the surface sharp and emotional differences in a city struggling to mesh two cultures.

A very different flag--that of the current Communist Vietnam--launched the weeks-long series of anti-communist demonstrations in Little Saigon in January. Vietnamese Americans rallied to protest video store owner Truong Van Tran’s display of a Communist Vietnamese flag and a picture of former communist leader Ho Chi Minh.

Passions from that controversy, residents said, added momentum to long-standing opposition by some to the practice of flying the U.S. and South Vietnamese flags in apparent violation of flag etiquette.

“There are some rather remarkable prejudices here, and I believe they are very broadly cast throughout the community,” said Reginald Crozier, a longtime Westminster resident. “I think a lot of it has to do with the larger demonstration . . . in front of that video store, and the rather large expense incurred by having to pay law enforcement. I think there has been a lot of patience lost. . . . It has people irritated.”

At issue is the April 30 tradition of flying flags on Bolsa Avenue, the heart of Little Saigon. Local veterans groups have objected in the past, arguing unsuccessfully that flag etiquette requires that the U.S. flag never be flown domestically on level with or lower than the flag of another nation.

Backlash from the demonstrations this year propelled a surge of interest in the issue and led the council to reject the plan after attempts to reach a compromise failed, veterans said.

The rejected proposal would have anchored the two flags in a holder resembling a shield mounted on light standards, the pole holding the South Vietnamese flag four inches shorter than that holding the U.S. flag.

“I’m certainly disappointed,” said Luan Tran, an attorney for the Vietnamese Community of Southern California, a social services agency that played a role in organizing the demonstrations. “My concern is it’s going to put Westminster on the world map once again, in a very negative fashion. I’m afraid Westminster is going to be perceived as an intolerant place.”

Mayor Frank Fry and Councilman Tony Lam supported the flag proposal, while council members Joy Neugebauer, Margie Rice and Kermit Marsh opposed it. Rice, however, said she would change her vote if the flags flew for just one day. Proponents said they intend to bring such a plan to the next City Council meeting.

Tran said the South Vietnamese flag stands as a powerful symbol, even if the government no longer exists. “It represents democracy,” Tran said.

The controversy has also divided military service organizations. The U.S. Army Rangers Assn., whose members are military personnel trained at Ft. Benning in Georgia, had sought the city’s permission to fly the two flags. Members of local Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion posts opposed it.

“There was a lot of prejudice and bigotry being presented there by the patriotic organizations,” said Gerry Rush, commander of the Ranger group’s western region. “You have to feel that when they’re talking about the Vietnamese in their community.”

Members of the groups said they acted out of patriotism.

“It takes away from the dignity of the flag, and it just looks junky hanging them from poles like that,” said Ed Crone, commander of American Legion Post 555. “I’m a Vietnam vet, and one of my pet things is the American flag. When I see it being hung wrong, you gotta talk to me about it.”