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Little Falls joins a big debate
by Nikki Tundel, Minnesota Public Radio
April 4, 2003

The French flag flies alongside an American one in Le Bourget Park in Little Falls, Minn. (MPR Photo/Nikki Tundel)

The people of Little Falls are up in arms over a French flag. It flies over Le Bourget Park, which is named after the Parisian suburb where native son Charles Lindbergh landed after his historic trans-Atlantic flight in 1927. Given French opposition to the war in Iraq, some residents say the flag should come down.

Little Falls, Minn. — Two flags flap in unison over a Little Falls park. One is the stars and stripes. The other is the Tricouleur. Tucked behind the town's train tracks and hoisted over a soggy patch of mud, the nod to the French Republic could hardly seem more insignificant. Still, this display of red, white, and blue has created quite a stir in the Mississippi River town.

Over at Spur's gas and bait shop, customers are convinced the French flag should come down. Some aren't sure why it went up in the first place.

	Little Falls

"Something stupid with a sister city," one resident said. "La Bur, whatever the hell that's called. I don't even know how to pronounce it."

The flag symbolizes the community's relationship with Le Bourget, France. Fifteen years ago, Little Falls adopted the Parisian suburb as its sister city. It was there that hometown hero Charles Lindbergh landed after completing his famed flight over the Atlantic.

Across town, Del's Bar is holding its weekly meat raffle. When they aren't gambling for rump roasts, the locals share their frustration with France's lack of support for the U.S.-led war. Few patrons, however, are willing to share their names. The French lean more towards socialism and communism than a free country like the United States is," a resident says. Few wanted to be identified.

There's no mention of France's pivotal role in the American Revolutionary War. Citizens here are focused on the present. Camp Ripley, one of the largest National Guard installations in the country, stands just nine miles from Little Falls. In recent weeks, it's been an embarkation point for the Persian Gulf. Watching local troops head for the frontlines reminds people of Jacques Chirac's failure to send the French military into Iraq.

"We've bailed them out so many times and we have many men lying there dead in their graves and we defended them and I don't think it's fair now that they turn their backs on us.The only thing the Frenchmen gave us is a place to plant our dead," a Little Falls resident says.

At Del's Bar, support for the Bush administration is so strong, patrons say there have been arguments over which American beer is the most patriotic. Budweiser usually wins. Yet, a few customers are willing to stand up for the French flag. "They're just speaking their piece. To be honest with you, I think the president should be impeached for doing what he did. There's a lot more peaceful ways they could done it. Instead of going over there and killing people and kids."

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"There's so many other things to deal with right now than the French flag."

Although many residents would be happy to live without the French flag, at the Great Wall Chinese Restaurant few are inclined to give up their Moo Shoo Pork.

China, like France, refused to join in the military assault against Iraq. But that doesn't stop the after-church crowd from flocking to the lunch buffet.

Here luck rests on fortune cookies rather than pull-tabs, but the views of the customers aren't much different from those back at the bar.

"Anybody that's for terrorism and trying to wreck the country, we can do without 'em."

Still, even in a town devoid of anti-war lawn signs, some want to keep the French flag flying..

"They brought us the Statue of Liberty and the big lady is watching over us," a patron said.

"It's not like the French people are going to be really upset, like Little Falls, Minnesota... this little corner of the Earth took down their flag."

On Monday, the Little Falls City Council will discuss whether to remove the French flag from Le Bourget Park. As for now, one resident is willing to offer a compromise.

"I think you ought take it down and put a Packer flag up."

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