A former Stanley County school janitor’s photo of a crumpled flag has gone viral. Cesar Zakahi posted the picture on Saturday and asked people to call and email the Stanley County School District superintendent to tell him that the flag should be properly folded and stored. He says it was something that had been troubling him for months. By Monday, he was out of a job.
The controversy sparked comments from all corners of KELOLAND, including veterans like Howard Wood in Sioux Falls. Wood flies the flag above his driveway every day. He lives across the street from Longfellow Elementary.
“It's there. Kids across the street at the school can see it, you know and decide for themselves,” Wood said.
Wood spent 20 years in the Navy. He is a Vietnam Veteran, and he keeps a reserve flag neatly folded on a shelf in his garage. He calls the Stanley County school allegations a “sham,” because he doesn't think a heap is ever the right place for a flag to be.
“It should be a school project to do it every night. One class, there's got to be someone out there half patriotic that would tell the kids how it's done and stuff,” Wood said.
He says his wife mends his flags when they need repairing. Wood is the grandson of the storied Washington High School coach and the namesake of Howard Wood Field in Sioux Falls.
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