Lomita Official Wages War to Fly POW Flag at Post Office

The Vietnam War is over, but Lomita Councilman David Albert is waging a battle to get the local post office to fly a POW/MIA flag over its building.

“I will take this all the way to the White House,” said Albert, 43, who didn’t fight in the Vietnam War but thinks those who didn’t return from the conflict should be honored.

When Albert was mayor in 1995, Lomita passed a policy to fly the POW/MIA flag over all city facilities. It is hoisted every day over City Hall, Veterans Park and the Railroad Museum.

But flying it at the post office is a different matter. The U.S. Postal Service allows only the United States flag to be flown.

“The rules are made by somebody in Washington, and those are the rules we are living with,” said David Mazer, a spokesman for the Postal Service. “It’s a national policy.”

Albert has decided to take the matter one step higher, and wrote President Clinton.

“Lomita does not want to violate any federal laws, but we would very much like to have a variance or an exception so that we many also pay tribute to our men who have lost their lives to war,” the councilman wrote.

Albert said he hasn’t received a reply to his September letter.

Lomita will build a war memorial in the spring to honor Lomita residents killed in wars in the 20th century. It will stand on the Lomita post office grounds.