Soldier Flies American Flags Upside-Down to Protest Obama's Re-Election

There have been many controversies sparked over homeowners' use of American flags on their properties, but this protest might be one of the more peculiar cases.

A woman in Copenhagen, N.Y., has two U.S. flags flying upside-down in front of her home, a general sign of distress or protest. Of course, she's not just any homeowner: She's a soldier.

The soldier, who is based at Fort Drum and declined to give her name or speak on camera because of her military status, told local TV station WWNY that she's flying the flags upside-down to protest President Barack Obama's re-election. She said that "Obama is trying to destroy the country, and this is her expression of disapproval," WWNY reported.

The soldier vowed to display the flags upside-down outside her home until Obama's second term ends. As might be expected, her protest has gotten the neighborhood talking.

"It just seems kind of disappointing that someone who raises their right hand to protect and defend the Constitution -- and the flag that represents the whole country -- chooses to fly the flag upside-down in some kind of protest," neighbor Adam Boulio, a military veteran, told WWNY. "You always walk a fine line when you're in the military because, like it or not, you're in uniform, so there's only so much you can do or say if you have some active opposition to your command or to the leadership. But there are professional ways to do that, and I don't think this is one of them."

But not everyone railed against the woman's show of disapproval for Obama.

"It's her right. She's protesting something," Mark Souva, another neighbor, told WWNY. "There's no disrespect to the flag that I know of. I just haven't had a chance to talk with her to see that the full story is."

While this soldier isn't flying the flags the way most people might choose to, others -- including a veteran -- have had to fight for the right to fly their flags at all. Last year, Army veteran Fred Quigley was fighting his homeowners association for the right to fly an American flag on a flagpole in his front yard. The HOA said that flags could only be displayed if they are affixed to homes, not flagpoles. And a resident at a senior complex was threatened with eviction for displaying three small American flags -- in violation of her lease, according to the housing authority that runs the complex.