ROCK HILL, S.C. — A combat veteran wants to fly the U.S. flag on flagpole in his yard, but the homeowners association said no to flying it on a pole.
Gary Pittman said he served five tours in combat and has the patches, medals and stories from his tours overseas.
He has also seen friends die while serving their country.
"I was a pallbearer, but I was the one that had to present the flag to his mom," he said of a young U.S. Marine who died.
Now he wants to put the flagpole in his front yard so he can raise and lower the two flags daily. Instead, the HOA said he can only fly a flag on his front column.
"Every veteran who served fought for that flag," Pittman said. "We fight for that flag, which means that, to me, we fight for our country."
An association can't restrict or prevent the display of the U.S. flag but can impose a restriction pertaining to time, place or manner of displaying the flag, according to federal law.
HOAs can't stop residents from flying "one portable, removable" U.S. flag, according to South Carolina law.
Pittman's issue is about the flagpole that HOAs can ban.
"I don't believe from what you described that the association wants to forbid him from flying the flag. It's just the manner in which it is done here; the mechanism used to fly it," legal expert Chris Gelwicks said. "The pole itself."
North Carolina law indicates that in HOA agreements made after October 2005, restrictions banning U.S and North Carolina flags must be obvious in the agreement and have to be in bold type on the front page.