A question I'd appreciate opinions on:

Each year my family goes to the 4th of July Parade in Edmond. Every year I watch people confused over when it is proper to stand and remove one's hats.

What always happens is everybody pogos up and down every time a flag passes--Shriners' clown cars, Jr. Little Miss Pampered Princess convertables, and everything, until heat exhaustion renders everybody incapable of moving from thier seats. This usually takes about 30 minutes before nobody gets up again for the duration of the parade.

The best I can find, is this:

When the Color Guard begins the parade, at the first sighting of the American flag in the parade, respect should be shown in the form of either your hand over your heart or saluting the flag as it passes….and ALWAYS remove your hat – men and women.

Regardless of how patriotic one is, it seems unreasonable to stand every 30 seconds for every flag and in the July heat in the direct sun, this becomes somewhat a potential health risk for some folks.

Garrison Keillor pick up the white courtesy phone please.

In terms of standing for each flag, your quote sounded pretty much on the mark, to me, although someone who is unable to stand due to health reasons shouldn't try to do that. Still, everyone should still put their hand over their heart and remove their hat - it is a patriotic event, after all, and even the ones who might otherwise be lax about it should show respect for their community and the vets in the crowd, if nothing else.

I personally think that someone should remove their hat for all significant flags in the parade as a sign of respect, even if they don't stand for each one. But when in doubt, I don't think you can go too wrong to scout out an elderly vet dressed for the occasion and tell the kids to follow his lead. Lots of worthwhile lessons to pass on by doing that, seems to me.