Nazi flags stir controversy

A Tucumcari man caused a stir on social media over the weekend when he flew at his south-side home two flags representing the Nazi Germany era - including one with a swastika.

Dave Shine, the owner of the flags, said he simply was honoring his German heritage and "wanted to do something different."

Estefanita Garcia, who lives near the same south-side neighborhood, said she was driving by Shine's home on Saturday afternoon when she saw a flag on a pole with a swastika on it.

"It stopped me in my tracks," she said by phone. "I never thought I'd see a Nazi flag in my little town."

She said she stopped to take several photos of the flag and later posted them on Facebook.

Daniel Garcia, a former candidate for Quay County commissioner, commented on the post: "What a disgrace for my Gold Star son and former Marine. My father died fighting that evil."

Estefanita Garcia said she saw Shine take down the flag shortly after she took photos of it Saturday.

A Google search identified the mostly red flag, which contained an iron cross in the upper corner and a swastika in the middle, as being used in Nazi Germany from 1938 to 1945.

Shine said he is a "history buff" and that the flags recognize his German ancestry. He said he is a Vietnam veteran who earned the right to fly whatever flag he wanted, and "I wanted to do something different."

"It has nothing to do with sympathizing with the Nazi party," Shine wrote in a text to the Quay County Sun. "It's just a piece of history; if people would do ... research maybe they would learn something."

Tucumcari Mayor Ruth Ann Litchfield, informed by phone about the swastika-bearing flag Sunday morning, said she knows Shine and was "shocked" he would fly such a symbol.

On Sunday morning, Shine flew another flag with a skull on it and the words, "Meine Ehre Heisst Treue," which translates roughly to "My Honor Is Loyalty."

According to the Anti-Defamation League website: "In Nazi Germany, the Waffen SS (Schutzstaffel, the paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler) used this phrase as a motto; it is a reference to the organization's loyalty to Hitler. Since World War II, neo-Nazis and other white supremacists around the world use this German phrase (or its equivalent in English or other languages) as a hate slogan."

That flag was taken down shortly after noon Sunday, not long after the Quay County Sun contacted Shine at his home.

Reached by phone and by Facebook Messenger on Sunday morning, Shine said the flag flown Saturday was used by the German navy and the flag Sunday was used by German Panzer tank divisions, both during World War II.

Estefanita Garcia, who drives by Shine's home regularly, said she saw no other flags there that caught her attention in recent months other than a Trump-for-president flag during the 2020 election season.

Shine added during the phone interview he was a "strong Republican" who voted for Trump and that he opposed the wearing of masks during the current COVID-19 pandemic.

"I will no longer fly any flags because exercising my first amendments is not cool!! Is this what our country has come to? Pretty sad. And you can use this quote from me in the paper," Shine stated by text.