Letter sent to President Richard Nixon by Charles S. Keenan

9 Cal February 22, 1972 The President of the United States Washington, D.C. Mr President I had occasion to observe your actions during the rendition of our national anthem during the ceremonies of your arrival at Peking and I noticed that both you and Mrs Nixon only stood at attention. We had been taught, both in school and during military service, that the proper way to acknowledge the rendition of our anthem was; when uncovered, not in uniform to stand at attention and place the right hand over the heart this applied to women also). During the raising of our national ensign to face the flag and use the same procedure or when only the anthem was played to face the direction of the music and place the hand over the heart. This same procedure would be used when acknowledging the playing of foreign anthems as well as our such as was done at Peking. I only bring this to your attention because this had been so thoroughly instilled in me that it becomes automatically when I find myself in the position described and I have noticed that during sporting events very few people observe the correct procedure during the raising of our flag and the playing of our national anthem. I thought you had a wonderful opportunity, as our commander-in chief, to demonstrate the proper courtesy to our flag and the playing of our anthem. If I am wrong in this I apologize but if I were you I would check the time honored customs regarding the proper procedures. May God bless you Charles S. Keman Charles S. Keenan 391 Wisconsin Avenue Long Beach, Calif. 90814 P.S. May I please be advised if I am wrong in the above procedure?