... His truth is marching on.

The Battle Hymn of the Republic is the most vile song ever, ever composed. But it's a fitting tune to hear play silently in your head when you read the news of what happened in Portland, where a 100-year-old World War II veteran was to be honored. 

Two white American soldiers pick up the remains of the United States in Ferguson after black (and white) protesters burned it in the name of #BlackLivesMatter and "Justice for Michael Brown"

Was to be honored is the key phrase, because more than 100 #BlackLivesMatter and "Justice for Michael Brown" protesters pushed their way into the event to make sure the 100-year-old veteran knew just who his (and his fellow soldiers) sacrifices went toward empowering. [Navy vet, 100, persuades protesters to let him speak: 'Give me a chance', Oregon Live, 1-3-15]

Those brave men who stormed Iwo Jima didn't do so to enable more than 100 black (and white) people to disrupt a centenarian from receiving the accolades and admiration he so richly deserved; nor did any veteran of the United States Military die so that a black person could bellow "burn this bitch down,"and then proceed to watch a formally American city burn....

But such is life in 2015 America. 

If any positive emotion toward the Old Republic was left, it's this story that would assuredly bring forth the same patriotism and passion which once compelled young men to follow a leader like George S. Patton to whatever hell he'd lead them toward. [Amid protest in Ferguson, guardsmen rescued flag, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 12-30-14]:

No one said anything to either man. No one gave an order, or even made a suggestion. But the two soldiers seemed to simply know what they had to do.Maj. Lance Dell and Sgt. 1st Class Eric Allison of the Missouri National Guard rescued a burned American flag. 

“They treated the flag like it was trash,” Allison said. “It’s not trash to us.” 

In a demonstration on South Florissant Road in Ferguson on Dec. 4, several protesters wearing Guy Fawkes masks lit an American flag on fire. After letting it burn for a bit, they let it drop to the wet ground. 

At that point — it could have been one or two seconds, it might have been 30 — two Missouri National Guardsmen in combat gear crossed into the fray of South Florissant. 

With as much tenderness as can be mustered when covered in riot gear and hit by angry insults, Dell and Allison picked up the remains of the flag off the street, folded as much of it as they could, picked up smaller, charred pieces of fabric and then walked it inside for safe keeping. 

Dell, 46, and Allison, 43, are full-time National Guard members, assigned to the 205th Military Police Battalion in Poplar Bluff. 

Both men spent 13 months in Afghanistan around 2010, and Allison also spent 18 months in Iraq in 2004-05. They’ve served together long enough that they knew their thoughts were aligned when the flag was burned. They looked at each other and acted.

‘WE LOVE THE FLAG’ 

Said Allison, “My dad used to tell me that you can’t even count the people who gave their lives so we can fly that flag. We love the flag, or at least what it stands for.”Dell noted that he and his men are well aware of the court rulings concerning flag burning. 

“We know that it’s a constitutional right to burn the flag,” Dell said. 

“But I knew we couldn’t leave it just lying in the road.” 

Two weeks after the incident, the flag was still in the two soldiers’ possession. 

They’re not sure what exactly will become of it, but Dell said anyone concerned should know that it will be handled “by the code.”

There is one place this flag will never call "home."[Missouri museum collecting real-time history of Ferguson, Associated Press, 1-6-15]:

From street-artist paintings on boards protecting store windows to signs bearing the now iconic statement, "Hands Up. Don't Shoot," cultural images from the Ferguson protests have become firmly established in recent Missouri history. So much so that the Missouri History Museum is gathering images and items cataloguing the unrest that followed the August shooting death of Michael Brown by a Ferguson police officer. 

The museum in St. Louis' Forest Park is in the process of gathering not only physical artifacts from Ferguson, but Twitter feeds, oral histories from protesters, residents and police, and even cellphone videos. It's all meant to give future generations a real-time perspective from those affected by the shooting and the aftermath that included protests, riots, and the strained relations between police and minority communities. 

This is a rare example of being at a point where history is made all around you," said Chris Gordon, Library and Collections director for the museum. "We're standing in the midst of it, and we haven't had that chance very often. Documenting everything we can -- getting all sides, all perspectives -- is very important."

 "...getting all sides, all perspectives -- is very important."

No story of the Farce in Ferguson is complete without understanding HUD's pernicious role in facilitating the black insurrection via Section 8 vouchers. Indeed, blacks emboldened with Section 8 Vouchers to rekindle those most hateful words in The Battle Hymn of the Republic ('He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored') is a sick reminder of what the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing plan represents. 

The charred remains of the flag Dell and Allison picked up on the streets of 70 percent black Ferguson echoes the words of Francis Scott Key, but with one important caveat: though the American flag might have still been there, Ferguson is now Africa in America.