American flag removal from cemetery draws controversy

CAMDEN, Tenn. — A Benton County family pleads for help Wednesday after the city of Camden threatens to remove a flag displayed over a veteran’s grave.

“My dad is flipping in his grave right now, and he would be outraged because all they are doing is dishonoring my father,” Paul Christman said.

Christman’s father, Carl, served in the Korean War before being wounded and honored with the Purple Heart. Carl passed away in 1995, and now the flag he fought for, which stands tall next to his grave, has become a problem for the city of Camden.

“We have the ordinance, we have pictures, we have dates on the back of them,” Timothy Roig said. “It didn’t just go up. The mayor says it has. He needs to do his homework.”

The Christman family said officials with the city of Camden just recently removed the flag from Carl’s grave site, and when they went to retrieve it they found out why.

“His first reason was they can’t mow around it,” Christman said. “OK, if you don’t have a weed eater, you don’t need to be in the lawn mowing business anyway.”

The Christmans said after that, Mayor Roger Pafford told them they were violating a city ordinance that was passed in 2005.

“The mayor’s job can’t be too hard. Surely he has enough time to ride around here and look at things,” Roig said.

“They say they can’t cut around it,” Christman said. “Evidently they have been doing a good job of it since 1995.”

Several attempts to reach out to Mayor Pafford to comment on the flag removal were unsuccessful.

The Christmans said they plan to fight not only for their grandfather but the freedoms he fought for.

“If they are going to do it to us, they are going to do it to you and stick it to you just like us,” Christman said. “We need the help and all the support we can get come Monday night at Camden City Hall at 6.”

The Christmans said they have hired a lawyer to help assist them. The family will go in front of the City Council at 6 p.m. Monday at Camden City Hall to plead their case.