A Fort Hood soldier has just gone to battle with his Homeowner’s Association in Texas after they informed him that he will be fined if he refuses to take down his American flag.

“They said you can’t have a flagpole and so I took it off the flagpole and then the HOA president who lives right down the street still told me that I can’t fly my flag, period,” explained Army Sgt. Chris Link, who added that it all started last Wednesday, when he received an email from the HOA for the Falls of Fox Creek community in Killeen.

The email stated that Link’s American flag violated the rules and that the only days the flag can be displayed were Memorial Day, Labor Day, Veterans Day and Flag Day.

Link was enraged when he learned that he would have to take down the American flag that he had risked his life fighting for.

“That flag means more to me than a lot of people realize,” he lamented.

“That’s the only reason I joined the Army; was to fight for my country because I love that flag and everything that flag stands for.”

That’s why Link refused to back down, hanging the flag on his porch and informing the HOA that he had a right to do so under the Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005.

However, the HOA said in response, “You cannot display your flag. We have gone through this with a number of homeowners. Please remove it, or I will have your fine sent out today.”

In a follow up email, the HOA president said that it was the landlord of the house Link lives in that had asked for the flag to be taken down.

“The owner was the one that ask(ed) me to send him pictures of his home and yes, he said for you to remove the flag,” the HOA president said in an email. “When the owner of the property say(s) do something, you comply. Sorry you (feel) that we are unpatriotic. I served 28 years in the military, but the HOA has its own by-laws that will be followed and you will follow them like everyone else, no exception.”

Link’s neighbors have since hung American flags outside their homes in solidarity with him.

“I don’t think anybody who has a home in the United States of America should be told they can’t fly the colors, the flag for that same country they’re residing in,” said neighbor and veteran Clifford Devaul.

We can only hope that the HOA changes their tune and allows this veteran to proudly display the American flag he fought so hard for.