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Firefighter’s Flag to Stay Put

Krapf will be allowed back to work Thursday

By DANIELLE JOHNSON

Updated 12:00 PM EST, Tue, Oct 20, 2009

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NBCPhiladelphia.com

A Chester City firefighter who was suspended for displaying an American flag sticker on the front of his locker will not have to remove the decal and he gets to keep his job.

After two hours of negotiations, fire and union officials reached a resolution Monday afternoon to reinstate James Krapf and allowed him to display the red, white and blue on his locker.

"I am glad to be back and ready to go back to doing my job," said Krapf.

Krapf was suspended last week, without pay, after disobeying an order from Chester City Fire Commissioner James Johnson to remove the American flag from his locker. A department policy prohibited firefighters from posting personal items on lockers after a recent poster was found to be offensive.

This tiny sticker of the American flag is at the...

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"There was never an intent to desecrate the American flag," said Fire Commissioner James Johnson during a press conference.

More than 25 protesters showed up for a rally in support of Krapf outside the firehouse on East 14th Street Monday morning.

Krapf said he expects to be reimbursed for a day and a half in back pay.

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First Published: Oct 19, 2009 1:04 PM EST

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{"totSize":28,"payload_type":"json","status":"1","results":[{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"396494_64774202","adminTags":null,"views":1135,"createdBy":9384821,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait160X120.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"Firefighter?s Flag to Stay at Attention","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":2502137,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"19 Oct 2009 19:00:35 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":10,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"funnystuff","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"1093879","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"I cannot wait until I can pick and chose which rules i would like to follow. No stickers means no stickers. Wonder if they will allow the confederate flag sticker on anyones locker...Don't worry sticker dude, when you find yourself running late, you don't have to follow any of those pesky traffic rules feel free to run red lights and stop signs to prove your point that the rules don't apply to you."},{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"396494_64774202","adminTags":null,"views":1135,"createdBy":13303209,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait160X120.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"Firefighter?s Flag to Stay at Attention","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":2502137,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"19 Oct 2009 19:21:33 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":10,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"NoWayNoHow","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"1094046","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"Actually, the rules were set AFTER the sticker had been in place. The fact that it's not offensive is the key point here. It's a representation of our country. Which they wear on the uniform. It's not a big deal. It's not a discussion topic. Leave it alone. "},{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"396494_64774202","adminTags":null,"views":1135,"createdBy":13721823,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait160X120.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"Firefighter?s Flag to Stay at Attention","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":2502137,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"19 Oct 2009 19:47:16 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":10,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"mamamedic","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"1094218","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"Good for you Jimmy! Will be glad to see you back to work on Thursday. Way to stand your ground and stand up for what is right."},{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"396494_64774202","adminTags":null,"views":1135,"createdBy":13721431,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait160X120.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"Firefighter?s Flag to Stay at Attention","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":2502137,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"19 Oct 2009 19:50:58 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":10,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"RuzzT","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"1094252","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"Hey Funnystuff, you're obviously not from around here are you? Your anti-American points are not valid. It's a firehouse locker room, not the Sistene Chapel. It's more than just not agreeing with a rule and refusing to obey it. Racist stickers are racist. Confederate flag stickers are a reference to the Confederate Battle Flag and the US Second National flag which is not our current flag any more. So, those types of stickers do not have the same significance as our current red, white and blue which stands for amongst other ideals, freedom, valor, the blood of our fallen brothers, honor, patriotism, national pride and our 50 free states. The flag symbolizes a country that gives a firefighter the freedom to proclaim his allegiance with the morals and ideals of the constitution and to remember events like 9/11 and the deaths of many brave public servants without being force to hide it so as not to "offend" others. If you don't believe that then you're either not an American or painfully deluded."},{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"396494_64774202","adminTags":null,"views":1135,"createdBy":10589944,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait160X120.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"Firefighter?s Flag to Stay at Attention","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":2502137,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"19 Oct 2009 19:52:19 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":10,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"topdog","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"1094263","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"come on people, he is american. there r alot more thing to get upset about. im with you, keep your flag up!!! and lol at them..."},{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"396494_64774202","adminTags":null,"views":1135,"createdBy":7918844,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait160X120.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"Firefighter?s Flag to Stay at Attention","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":2502137,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"19 Oct 2009 20:22:02 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":10,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"anonymous_user","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"1094483","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"Funnystuff you are an Idiot. THe Confederate Flag does not represent our Country. The Confederate Flag represents the same Racial Intolerance that the Nazi Flag and Swatstika represented. Congress needs to reaffirm and pass a law prohibiting anyone but Congress from setting a law on how the US Flag may be displayed in addition to the current Protocols. Go ahead and go to Germany and display the Nazi Symbol of hatred and see where you will wind up for a lot of years. It equates to yelling Fire in a Theater or crowded Bldg when there is none."},{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"396494_64774202","adminTags":null,"views":1135,"createdBy":13722922,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait160X120.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"Firefighter?s Flag to Stay at Attention","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":2502137,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"19 Oct 2009 20:49:35 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":10,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"bob1","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"1094693","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"This guy has EVERY right to put a US flag sticker on his locker. What idiot would not use simple reasoning to realize that here in America, the flag is not offensive... after all, the flag is flying outside the firehouse.<br>There are too many dumb people in positions of power and authority. We Americans, the legal ones, need to rise up and take a greater stand in protecting the very thing that made this country what it is today. Don't let these liberal jackasses (FUNNYSTUFF) take our country away from us."},{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"396494_64774202","adminTags":null,"views":1135,"createdBy":7918844,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait160X120.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"Firefighter?s Flag to Stay at Attention","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":2502137,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"19 Oct 2009 22:01:11 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":10,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"anonymous_user","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"1095143","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"Congratulations James Krapf on standing your ground and sticking up for your rights! And shame on the Fire Commissioner. We can't even display the flag of our country anymore? Unbelievable. To Funnystuff: yes, you are correct in saying that we should obey rules, laws, regulations, etc., but we also have the right to dispute them. And the dispute was justified seeing how the Fire Department's policy was overturned."},{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"396494_64774202","adminTags":null,"views":1135,"createdBy":13723903,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait160X120.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"Firefighter?s Flag to Stay at Attention","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":2502137,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"19 Oct 2009 22:10:13 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":10,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"AlwaysRight68","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"1095196","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"I am sure that if this had been a Obama08 sticker, the request to remove it would have been racially motivated as all disagreements with our Presbo have become. But since it's the American flag, funny, it seems only the left has a problem with that particular sticker."},{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"396494_64774202","adminTags":null,"views":1135,"createdBy":13725478,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait160X120.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"Firefighter?s Flag to Stay at Attention","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":2502137,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"19 Oct 2009 23:24:29 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":10,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"WCFD53","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"1095575","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"PLEASE CORRECT YOUR STORY! The firefighter is a Chester CITY firefighter...NOT a CHESTER COUNTY firefighter, as your website reports. Thank you."}],"error":"","totPages":3}

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