WWII Medal of Honor veteran battles homeowners group to keep front-yard flagpole

WWII vet gains supporters in flagpole battle

RICHMOND, Va. — One of the nation’s oldest Medal of Honor winners is fighting again, now with a Virginia neighborhood association that wants him to take down his front-yard flagpole.

Supporters, including a U.S. senator, are falling in behind 90-year-old Army Col. Van T. Barfoot, a World War II veteran.

Barfoot put up the 21-foot flagpole in September. He raises the flag daily at sunrise and retires it at sunset.

But the Sussex Square homeowners’ association says the flagpole violates the neighborhood’s aesthetic guidelines and ordered him to remove it by 5 p.m. Friday or face a lawsuit.

U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner is among those offering to help break the impasse, according to Warner spokesman Kevin Hall. Others are backing Barfoot on the Internet, including with a Facebook page.