American Veterans, a veterans service organization and non-profit, is fighting to get the POW/MIA flag back up in front of every office on Capitol Hill.
The flags — which aim to remind Americans of prisoners of war and those missing in action — have started coming down over the past several years, the group said.
The trend especially caught attention after Democrat members of Congress took the flag down so that they could put up a pastel flag to recognize Transgender Visibility Week earlier this year.
The group said Capitol Hill police notified them after they noticed the flags coming down, and staying down. That is when the group got involved.
They have been going from office to office, talking to members of Congress and their staff, asking them to put the flag back up.
AMVETS National Commander Rege Riley said he is worried that Americans could forget the mission of bringing home every American who fought in the nation’s wars. One of his friends in high school fought in the Vietnam War and never came back.
Some efforts have been successful, some not. Since they began their crusade, they said the flags have now increased back up to about 50 percent of members’ offices.
While they said some members choose not to have the POW/MIA flags up, other members are not sure where to find them.
For example, they noticed that Navy SEAL veteran Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) did not have one up in front of his office. A freshman member of Congress, he did not know where to get one, so they presented him with one a few weeks ago.
And they will do the same for every member of Congress they can.