One man's private war in defense of freedom

0 Comments | Insight on the News, June 30, 1997 | by David Wagner

Does it seem to you that more and more neighborhoods are becoming unlivable? Are teen parties, gang activity and radios blaring at all hours undermining civility? Well, as we prepare to celebrate Independence Day, you'll be glad to be reminded that one intrepid homeowners' association is lowering the boom on a notorious neighborhood nuisance -- the American flag (see "Patriotic Veteran Resists Neighborhood Restriction," April 7-14).

Yes, if the homeowners' association of Terravita, in Scottsdale, Ariz., has its way, residents there will be able to enjoy the use of their property without fear of that annoyance. No more shall that star-spangled eyesore get in the way of views of the surrounding desert; never again will that dratted drapery keep neighbors awake at night with its interminable flapping.

But there's an obstacle, in the form of a World War II veteran who bought his house in Terravita one month before the association enacted its antiflag rule. A.H. "Doc" Wussow and his wife, Joy, figure that their freedom to fly the flag is at least as robust as an artist's right to dunk it in a toilet (an opus put on display in an Arizona museum). Since Doc got shot at in the Philippines defending that flag and the values it supposedly stands for, he feels just a little bit strongly about this. He's particularly fond of two Old Glories in his collection: the one that draped the coffin of his father, a World War I veteran and the one that did the same service for his brother, an Army pilot who was shot down on a mission over Germany in 1943.

Doc's opponents are not his neighbors: The rulemaking is being enforced by the association's board of directors, who answer not to the homeowners but to Del Webb Corp., the international developer. Del Webb's position is that it has not banned flags as such, only flagpoles, especially tall ones: They block the view of the High Sonoran Desert and the surrounding mountains, which are major reasons why residents chose to live there in the first place.

But the association is inconsistent in its concern for sight lines. Other Terravita residents are protesting that some of their neighbors are building "casitas," or small houses, in their backyards. A casita is far more obstructive than a flagpole.

One Terravita homeowner alleges that the construction of casitas in Terravita backyards violates Del Webb's own restrictive covenants, but that Del Webb is allowing the construction anyway so as to be able to show Wall Street that it is building, new homes." An attorney representing certain Terravita homeowners has written to Del Webb's counsel that the developer's interpretation of the covenants is "quite creative."

While it's a boom time in casitas at Terravita, the homeowners' association has ordered the Wussows to cease and desist from flying their flag atop a pole. The association's attorney thinks it has been more than generous in proposing, as an alternative to a ground-based flagpole, a pole attached to the Wussows' house. But Wussow claims -- and proved with photographs sent to Insight's Timothy W. Maier -- that this arrangement creates a high risk of the flag getting caught on the roof.

This ultimately is a clash between the post-sixties bourgeois culture, where "values" means what you can sell your house for, and the pre-war world of the Wussows, where personal sacrifice was part of life and the flag was the one symbol that transcended controversy.

"My wife Joy and I," Doc writes in a letter to Insight, "have been served with legal documents demanding disclosure statements and depositions. The assault begins with the need for me to deposit $5,000 into my law firm's account. There goes a huge chunk from my Social Security savings account. The attorney fees for the Del Webb Corporation won't produce the slightest ripple on their pool of money."

"Am I scared?" he adds. "You bet I am! This could be financial suicide for me, being pitted against a powerful corporation with vast resources. But I was also frightened as an 18-year-old inductee in 1943. I did not refuse to face that call of duty to my country. Now I feel that I cannot evade my duty to assert what I truly believe to be my inalienable right to honor the flag that I fought to protect."

Veterans of Foreign Wars chapters have pitched in, but the Wussows will need more help to avoid being bankrupted by their defense of their right to fly the American flag. That's why they have set up the Wussow Legal Defense Fund, care of the Bank of America, Arizona Account #234612175, 101 North First Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85003.

Happy Fourth, Doc. And God bless you.