Veterans Memorial in King a hotbed of controversy again - Original Christian flag protestor will now fly no flag for four weeks

(By Leslie Bray, The Stokes News) - After a few months of relative quiet at the Veterans Memorial in King, there is suddenly turmoil again involving the Christian flag. The man who originally protested the flying of that flag at the monument has been making decisions that are troubling the waters once again.

Steven Hewett, the once-anonymous “Steve,” took part in the Dec. 22 lottery in King to decide which flags would fly on the 11th flagpole throughout the year. He entered the names of himself and relatives who were veterans in the drawing for the limited public forum (LPF) flag display; his name was drawn, as well as three of his relatives.

At that time, Hewett submitted his desire to fly the Christian flag each of those four weeks. According to the ordinance passed by the City of King, he specified that flag as the one which represented the faith traditions that had inspired these veterans who were being honored. The policy states that an image of the flag must be turned in with the request form, so Hewett turned in a picture of the Christian flag with all four requests.

He changed his mind this past week.