Patrick orders halt to removal of displays honoring veterans

December 4, 2007 05:32 PM Email| Comments (0)| Text size – +

(Essdras M Suarez/ Globe staff)

Andy Jimenez (left), father of a missing soldier, and activist Jim Wareing removed a tribute earlier today from a bridge over Route 213 in Methuen. The Highway Department says it will suspend removal of such displays, while a task force looks to develop "appropriate and safe" ones.

By Brian R. Ballou, Globe Staff

METHUEN -- A plan by the state highway department to remove dozens of flags, banners and other signs hanging over highways statewide in honor of veterans was halted today by Governor Deval Patrick, just hours after the father of a missing soldier tearfully watched two flags being removed from a bridge in Methuen.

The Massachusetts Highway Department said this afternooon it will not complete the removal of the displays until a task force identifies an "appropriate and safe" way to honor the veterans on state property.

It was the second time the state had backed down from removing the displays. A year ago, under pressure from military families and their advocates, highway officials agreed that the signs could be allowed if placed behind fences. But more recently, they said even those must go, citing concerns that the items could fall on cars.

Patrick, who is currently in China on a trade mission, directed Tom Kelley, Secretary of Veterans' Services, and Luisa Paiewonsky, the state highway commissioner, to convene a group of veterans' representatives and highway safety officials to develop the plan.

The announcement was viewed as a victory for some families of veterans. But James Wareing, a retired director at Malden Mills who said he has spent at least $10,000 in the last six years creating and hanging flags and banners throughout New England in tribute to troops and their families, said it was a stopgap measure "to prevent a public relations nightmare.''

Earlier today, Wareing had used wire clippers to snip an American flag off a chain-link fence on a bridge across Route 213, ordered by the Massachusetts Highway Department to take down one of the tributes.

As Wareing snipped the flags off the overpass across Route 213, Ramon "Andy" Jimenez stood and watched and said he was thinking about his son, Alex, a US Army specialist kidnapped in Iraq. It’s not a safety issue, Jimenez said. It’s about his son, who is a hero, he said.