Submitted by David Wold, Greenwich
I am writing this to clarify the misrepresentation of the events surrounding the official Flag Day and the flag raising in connection with the 250th Anniversary of U.S. Army as presented in the article (Incident Involving Removal of Filipino Flag at Town Hall Resolved by Apology June 25, 2025) in Greenwich Free Press and via other media sources in and outside of Greenwich, Connecticut that came out from First Selectman’s office.
I am David C. Wold, a 3-year veteran of the Norwegian Navy and the United Nation’s Peace Keeping forces. I am currently a member of the Byram Veterans association, 9th district Veteran’s association, and current President of the local branch of Sons of the American Revolution (SAR).
I have been deeply involved with honoring veterans who are here today and those who gave their lives so that we can live in a free society and the 250th Anniversary of the start of the American Revolution via brave men who signed up for the First United States Army, is very important to me.
First Selectman Camillo has published a statement on the Town Website, and via local news outlets that I had no permission to raise the United States Army flag, in connection with their 250th Anniversary on June 14th, as I did.
This is not true. Here are some of the facts. These are supported by the recorded minutes of the Board of Selectman (BOS) meetings for anybody to read.
The Town of Greenwich instituted a flag policy on January 1, 2024. It was presented by our Town’s legal department and is available on the Town Website.
BOS confirmed that I was eligible to request flag raisings under this policy and I placed a request to raise flags for all the branches of Armed Forces and this was unanimously approved by the BOS, in 2024, in time for U.S. Army’s 249th Anniversary, June 14th, 2024 and Flag Day.
My efforts at the time were commended by First Selectman’s office and others.
At that time, Mr. Camillo announced that June 14th, Flag Day and US Army Day would be an annual event, explaining in his Community Connections newsletter that “We have other dates ahead this year to honor our Armed Forces with flag raisings to mark the birthdays of the different branches. The next one of these will be this morning at 10 a.m. when we will raise the flag or the birthday of the United States Army, which was officially established on June 14th 1775, as we began our revolution against British rule. June 14th also marks Flag Day and that is something we honor every day here at Town Hall by proudly flying the American flag. All members of the public are invited to attend this ceremony outside Town Hall and while it is short notice this is going to become an annual event too so everyone will have a chance to come next year ” (then he goes on about the dates for the remaining Armed Forces.
Town Ambassador Bea Crumbine submitted a request on March 27, 2025, on the behalf of CT Association of Filipino and American Families, to fly the Filipino flag on June 13th and she received approval on April 10th, so that would mean , according to the Flag Policy, to fly the Filipino flag only on June 13, from 10:00 a.m. onwards. The BOS minutes for this approval are available here
https://www.greenwichct.gov/Ag
This should not interfere with the U.S. Army’s 250th Birthday flag raising the following day.
These minutes clearly show that the BOS approved the raising of the Filipino flag ONLY on June 13th, and not from the 13th to the 16th, as been stated.
In June 2024 Selectperson Rabin noted that it was up to the requestor to make all arrangements for the flag raising.
Furthermore, as RTM Member Lucy von Brachel noted in comments to the GPS release of Town Hall statement, “U.S. Army Founding Commemoration was listed on the flag raising calendar for June 14th, and this was (Army’s 250th anniversary and also Flag Day) which was approved in January.”
So 3 months prior to the Filipino flag raising the day before. As First Selectman explained in a BOS meeting, at this flagpole we do not fly 2 flags at the same time.
The list of approved Flag Raisings was presented in January 2025 and there was no objections to the proposed dates.
I have regularly raised the Norwegian National Flag on its Constitution day,May 17th, sometimes in presence of BOS, but mostly in the presence of the Norwegian-American community here in Greenwich. When the Flag Policy was first introduced, I was told the flag had to be raised by a custodian, but this year, 2025, I was told by First Selectman’s office, I could do it on my own, which I did without any objection or attendance from Town Hall.
Since June 14th was a Saturday, a custodian was not available in any case, and as I had done on numerous previous occasions, I lowered the current flag flying at the time (this was the Filipino Flag) and raised the flag approved to fly on June 14th – the US Army Flag. I had checked the Town Calander and found the from BOS meeting and did see that the Filipino Flag been scheduled only for June 13th. Had the flag been approved beyond June 13th I would have raised it again on June 15th in accordance with Town Policy. But as it was not scheduled beyond the 13th, and I planned to return the flag as soon as Town Hall open, unfortunately that did not happen – and it was only returned on Tuesday when a Greenwich Police officer called from Town Hall to determine that I had the flag. I confirmed, and apologize for not having returned same on Monday, the officer then came to my home and collected the flag.
However, on Friday, June 20th, I received an email from Ken Borsuk, executive assistant to Camillo summoning me to his office to discuss a public apology to the Filipino community . His email further stated, “Should you choose to ignore this meeting request, First Selectman Camillo will make a public statement about your unlawful and unauthorized actions that caused embarrassment for the Town and confusion for our Filipino residents.”
Note that I only secured the Filipino Flag as it had been left overnight on the flagpole after their flag raising on June 13, and it was a weekend.
When I arrived at First Selectman Camillo’s office, First Selectman Fred Camillo, police chief Heavy, the officer who came to my house, Ken Borsuk (assistant to First Selectman) and Town COO Kate Bush were present. Neither 2nd or 3rd Select attended this meeting to discuss the apology issue.
I had asked that the meeting be recorded, but believe it was not. Mr. Camillo stated repeatedly that unless I provided a written apology for the Filipino community, he would publish a public statement of his own on this matter. He linked my actions to a ‘pattern’ that he had seen, indicating he was unhappy with my questions related to the flag raising policy etc. at the publicly held BOS meetings. I explained that I would apologize to the Filipino Community and requested a wording that would be acceptable, this was rejected as they needed to see my own words of remorse for what I had done. I tried several times, but it was rejected by First Selectman’s office and on Tuesday June 22, FS Camillo emailed me with exact wording that he required to resolve this matter and, as agreed by me, it should have avoid escalating the matter further by him publishing a public statement.
On June 25th, I was stunned to see that despite his promise not to issue any public statements, FS Camillo had issued a public statement on his personal social media and understand via his assistant to multiple media contacts, reaching potentially millions of people and creating a permanent digital record attacking my reputation on so many issues, as you all might have read.
I trusted FS Camillo’s word that my apology, based on his proposed wording, would resolve the matter and be approved among the Filipino community and that there would not be from him any “public statement about your unlawful and unauthorized actions that caused embarrassment for the Town and confusion for our Filipino residents.” (quote from his email on June 25th)
I am shocked and dismayed that this matter has gotten to this stage, and at actions trying to silence me, intimidate me and taint my reputation. I find this breach of trust, and personal attack is unbecoming behavior by our elected First Selectman Fred Camillo.
Sincerely,
David C. Wold