Tanya Breen/Asbury Park Press
Master at Arms Second Class Matthew Duggan (l.) and Machinist Mate First Class Heath Maloon with the flag at Naval Weapons Station Earle. The base said it is working to lower the volume.
Patriotism is all well and good, but for some people in one New Jersey town, timing is everything.
A military base in Middletown is having problems with its neighbors over a new speaker system some say causes a disturbance when it plays the national anthem in the morning.
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“Why should someone not in the service have to wake up to reveille?” asked Bob Wille, a resident of the Belford neighborhood, according to the Asbury Park Press.
The Naval Weapons Station Earle’s waterfront complex installed a speaker system in the summer that plays the anthem and other music during ceremonies and the raising and lowering of the American flag, the newspaper reported.
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Tanya Breen/Asbury Park Press
Maloon lowers the flag at sundown as Duggan salutes during the daily ceremony at Earle. A base spokesman said some have praised the music.
The “Call to Colors” and “The Star-Spangled Banner” are played as the flag is raised at 8 a.m. every day and again at sunset when it’s lowered, the newspaper reported.
“We’re only asking them to drop the volume,” resident Matt Di Benedetto told the newspaper. “We’re not against anything.”
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Michael Brady, public affairs officer at Earle, told the newspaper that residents have both praised and complained about the system, which had been broken for three years.
The base is working to adjust the volume to satisfy the concerns, Brady told the newspaper.
But the music doesn’t annoy Andrew Lucina, a Korean War veteran who told the Asbury Park Press he appreciates hearing it every day.
“Play it as loud as they want,” he told the newspaper. “I was willing to die for that flag…. I’m not going to complain about The Star -Spangled Banner.”
jlandau@nydailynews.com Follow on Twitter @joelzlandau
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via Great Local News: New York http://newyork.greatlocalnews.info
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