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An American flag on the back of a fire truck and decals on the truck windows is leading to a new dispute at the Central Coventry Fire District.
The firefighters union said they're being asked to take them off.
"The members are very upset," Firefighters Union President David Gorman told NBC 10 News. "I have a couple members, armed service retired, retired from the guard."
Firefighters and their supporters said it started last year when Fire District Chairman Fred Gralinski likened the flags on the trucks to what you see from terrorists.
In a news release, Corrigian also said that the district "has equipped all of its fire apparatus with new American flags that replaced old, tattered and dirty flags which were on the trucks."
“I’d like to thank Tony DeQuattro of Operation Stand Down-Rhode Island for providing us with the correct protocols to ensure American flags on our fire trucks are afforded the respect they deserve,” Corrigan said. “I would also like to thank the taxpayers who brought the issue of dirty and dingy flags on our trucks to our attention and questioned us about proper flag etiquette. We now believe our trucks are in compliance.”
...
There is, though, a new policy.
"All that has to happen is for someone that wants to put a sticker or decal on the first truck to go to the board and ask for permission," Gregg Perry, who is the spokesman for the fire district, said.
Perry also said they want to check with the military on flag display protocol.
But the union president maintains he's being asked in private to remove the items. He said something else is happening behind the scenes.
"That basically sums it up," Gorman told NBC 10.