I think it’s a good idea

THE teenager who stole an Australian flag and burnt it, before giving it to a mob which urinated and spat on it, will carry the national symbol at the Anzac Day march.

In a move that has divided ex-Diggers, the NSW RSL has offered the 17-year-old - who stole the flag from Brighton-le-Sands RSL - a flag-bearer's position in next year's march through Sydney. NSW RSL president Don Rowe yesterday said the boy, a Lebanese-Australian who stole the flag during reprisal attacks after last December's Cronulla race riot, had accepted his offer "enthusiastically''.

"Our nation's greatest day, I believe, is Anzac Day and the flag means everything to us, so here is an opportunity where he can come along and really get a feel for what the flag and the Diggers mean to the rest of us.''

The controversial plan has already found support in some ex-Diggers and families of those who died defending the country. Vietnam veteran Bill Myers, of Raymond Terrace, said he had "mixed feelings'' but there would be no better way for the youth to learn what the flag and Anzac Day were all about.

"To Diggers it is a sacred day and there is no one who needs to learn that lesson more than this boy,'' he said.

War Widows Guild of Australia chief executive Patricia Campbell said anything that helps in understanding what the flag means to veterans was positive. "In this case if the boy is genuinely remorseful and it adds to his understanding it can only be a good thing,'' she said.

As long as he is genuinely remorseful and really wants to carry the flag, I’m all for it. Perhaps he might be able to go back to his community and serve as a role model to other such ignorant youth.

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