Signs Your Homeowners Association Has Gone Too Far

A homeowner's association in Virginia was recently scolded by none other than White House Press Secretary, Robert Gibbs, for threatening a lawsuit against a resident World War II Medal of Honor winner.

The Sussex Square homeowner's association said the 90 year-old's flagpole wasn't aesthetically pleasing, and threatened a lawsuit if the 21-foot pole was not removed by this Friday at 5pm.

The resident in question, retired Army Colonel Van T. Barfoot served not only in World War II, but also in the Korean War and Vietnam though he is most famous for his efforts in the second World War. As excerpted from his Wikipedia page:

During the Italian Campaign, Barfoot participated in a series of amphibious landings: the Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943, the invasion of mainland Italy at Salerno in September, and finally the landings at Anzio in late January 1944. His unit pushed inland from Anzio, and by May 1944 had reached the town of Carano. They set up defensive positions and Barfoot conducted patrols to scout the German lines. When his company was ordered to attack on the morning of May 23, Barfoot, now a technical sergeant, asked for permission to lead a squad. Because of the patrols he had made, he knew the terrain and the minefield which lay in front of the German position. He advanced alone through the minefield, following ditches and depressions, until he came within a few yards of a machine gun on the German flank. After taking out the gun with a hand grenade, he entered the German trench and advanced on a second machine gun, killing two soldiers and capturing three others. When he reached a third gun, the entire crew surrendered to him. Others also surrendered and Barfoot captured a total of seventeen German soldiers. He had killed 8.^[4]

When the Germans launched an armored counterattack later in the day, Barfoot disabled one tank with a bazooka, then advanced into enemy-held territory and destroyed an abandoned German artillery piece. He returned to his own lines and helped two wounded soldiers from his squad to the rear.

Every morning Colonel Barfoot raises the flag in his front yard. And every evening he takes it down in proper military order, folding it in a regulation triangular pattern.

The disagreement caught like a wildfire in Virginia's capitol, being picked up by major news stations and, yes, even catching the ear of Gibbs, who called the homeowner's request "silly." The association has since dropped its request.

One other individual, this one an Indian Harbor, Florida resident, also took up arms against her homeowner's association this week by spray-painting the following onto the front of her house: "Hitler would be a welcome neighbor here. Stop the harassment to my family." The Washington Post reports Sheila Jones had been repeatedly mocked by her neighbors because she can't pay the $120.00 a month homeowner's fee. It's unclear whether the homeowner's association had also killed 6,000,000 Jews and leveled most of Europe.