2006-09-13 09:42:12 · 8 answers · asked by Cheryl M 1 in Politics & Government ➔ Military
A bullet, a razor, and a match
2006-09-13 09:44:44 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
The golden balls that top flagpoles are properly (and obscurely) styled "finials" but have also come to be known on military bases as "trucks." Their purpose is to ornament solid flagpoles and keep water out of hollow ones, and they can also serve to hold the pulleys through which rope halyards are run to raise and lower the flags. A number of military flagpoles were at one time topped with gold-colored eagles, but these proved impractical because flags would become hopelessly entangled on them during high winds; the switch to spheres eliminated this problem.
Flag-defense items are not secreted in the finial or buried at the foot of the pole. Although the flag has great symbolic importance, defending the bases over which it flies from attacking forces has far more direct and practical importance, and it's hard to imagine any right-minded soldier's taking time away from his duty of repelling invaders to engage in ritualistic flag destruction. Nor is it very plausible that a soldier, amidst a force of enemy troops overrunning his base, would have the time to scale a flagpole (or chop it down, or knock it over, or dig up its base) to retrieve hidden items, much less time to put them all to use. Although this is a charmingly romantic bit of lore, it's also a wildly impractical one.
2006-09-13 20:29:57 · answer #2 · answered by thanson73 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
"Flag-defending supplies" lore seems to dictate that three items be hidden in or near the flagpole, but what those three items are varies from one presentation of the rumor to the next. Generally, one item is provided to destroy or mutilate the flag (a match or a razor); the second item serves to arm the defender, either for the purpose of battling onrushers or assisting him in ending his own life (a bullet or a revolver), and the third item is purely symbolic (a penny to represent America's wealth, or a grain of rice to indicate that American soldiers are so tough they can survive on almost nothing). However, all manner of combinations are posited in different versions of the legend, including two-item offerings.
2006-09-13 16:54:23 · answer #3 · answered by krodgibami 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Well first the ball that you speak of is called a truck. In past times it contained a razor,bullett, and a match. These were need in case if the camp was over taken the stars where to be cut from the flag then burnt and the commanding general was to comitt sucide with the bullett. Now a days the trunk is hollow.
2006-09-13 17:01:41 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Bulet Razor and Matches.......
The Weapon that the bullet belongs to is buried 45 steps from the Flag Pole as well....
2006-09-13 17:15:38 · answer #5 · answered by john s 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Can you say Urban Legend?
I knew you could.
2006-09-13 19:48:32 · answer #6 · answered by CG-23 Sailor 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Matches, one bullet and I'm not sure. I used to know.
2006-09-13 18:31:41 · answer #7 · answered by ? 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
fyi, this is an urban legend.
2006-09-13 17:38:42 · answer #8 · answered by ron m 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋