A good time was had by all on Sunday at Denali National Park, which some Alaskans are now jokingly referring to as “Denial National Park,” after the National Park Service denied ordering construction workers to remove American flags from their vehicles as they transit the park to and from the Pretty Rocks Landslide bridge project.
The workers stand by their statements that they were ordered to remove their American flags. The order came by a message relayed through the Federal Highway Administration project manager at the bridge construction site but was from Park Superintendent Brooke Merrell, who said there had been a complaint about a truck flying the American flag as it transited the Park Road.
About 100 Alaska cars and trucks, decorated with American flags, converged on Denali National Park on Sunday to complete their mission of sending a community message to the National Park Service: An American flag mounted on a truck does not detract from the park experience.
The hastily organized convoy left Fairbanks at about 1 p.m., made a couple of stops along the way, and met up with about 20 cars and trucks that had arrived from Wasilla, Palmer, and Anchorage. The vehicles entered the park and spent a couple of hours driving the Park Road with their American flags aloft in different groups, not as one long caravan.
Spirits were good and the mood was festive, said Keith Fons of North Pole, organizer of the event. He only had 24 hours to publicize it and yet the news about the opportunity for patriotic fellowship went viral on his Facebook page. Fons was pleased with the turnout.
Fons said they encountered several Alaska State Troopers, starting with the gathering location at the Walmart parking lot in Fairbanks, where two Troopers stopped by to wish everyone well. There were no incidents, other than one driver being scolded by a park ranger when one of the convoy trucks went into the parking area near the park employee housing.
One member of the convoy reported, “When they got down to the administrative building the flagpole that always has the U.S. flag on it had no flag on it. Apparently the maintenance crew takes it down every night and put it up every morning. Our team leaders asked them to put the flag back up. They went to the box that it’s always in and the flag was not there. They were very embarrassed and apologetic. They said they couldn’t believe this was happening. They had no idea what happened to the flag that goes up every morning.”
The convoy participants brought water bottles with a patriotic message to hand to park employees: “Our flag does not fly because the wind moves it. It flies with the last breath of each soldier who died protecting it.”
