Dale Klyn raises beef cows in Corydon, Iowa.

For the past six years, he has been flying an American flag on his property.

But since May 21, that flag has been upside down.

He gives two reasons.

First, he’s angry at a judge for allowing a debtor of his to declare bankruptcy. The debtor, who had bought a business from Klyn on a contract and still owed him $282,000, now only has to “pay me six cents on the dollar,” says Klyn. “The judge approved that on the 18th of May. I was pretty upset about that.”

Second, he wants to show solidarity for Terri Jones.

She’s the Iowa mom who has been flying her flag upside down after her son returned from the Iraq War and committed suicide. (Klyn had never met her before.)

“When I got the Des Moines Register and read the article about Terri Jones and how her son didn’t get the medical attention he needed, I decided I’m going to support her and oppose what the judge had done and fly my flag upside down,” he says.

It got a reaction.

“I went to the local Case equipment dealer and bought some parts, and the salesman come out and he asked me why I was flying the flag upside down,” Klyn says. “So I explained it to him.”

But the salesman wasn’t sold, telling Klyn, “I’ve lost all respect for you. I’ll buy you a one-way ticket anywhere you want to go out of the country,” Klyn recalls.

Klyn says his postal worker also remarked on it.

“The mail carrier left me a personal note,” he says.

A local TV news reporter then came out and did a story on him.

“The next thing I knew I’d been charged with disorderly conduct,” he says. “I was surprised. I have the right and the freedom to do that.”

On July 6, Klyn, represented by the Iowa ACLU, met with a magistrate.

“I pled not guilty,” Klyn says. “No trial date has been set.” Terri Jones, by the way, went to court that day to support him.

“She came to my hearing," he says. “It was very kind of her.”

Alan Wilson, the county attorney who is prosecuting the case, did not return three phone messages for comment.

But Klyn’s troubles go beyond this court case.

He faces death threats from a forum on a Marine vets’ website, www.leatherneck.com, which calls itself the “Marine Corps Community for USMC Veterans.”

That forum contained the following remarks from four different Marines:

“Any scout snipers live in Corydon, Iowa???”

“Corn hole ’m.”

“Fly him under it upside down.”

“If the flag is flying upside down, it means he is in trouble, right? I think we Marines should show up and get him ‘out’ of trouble.”

Says Klyn: “I view it as a threat.”

We believe the citizens of the United States and others who live in our country are in grave danger of being denied the inalienable rights that have made this country the best and brightest hope for the World for over 200 years. Many of our Rights have already been stolen and abuses have been visited upon U.S. Citizens, and other people across the world, at the hands of government agents acting in the name of our Nation.

We have a good system of government, but it needs to perform only its lawful functions and to be bound once again by the restraints of the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights. We feel it is every U.S. Citizen's duty to protect and defend these important documents and ensure the guidelines it dictates are followed. There exist those currently in the U.S. government who would ignore its demands of restraint, fair and just legislation, strict division and limited scope of governmental powers. We feel it is every American's duty to elect and support those who take their oath to defend and protect the Constitution seriously and will stand by their promises.

The International Charter of Flag Etiquette states that a flag may be flown upside down in cases of extreme distress. We fly our flag upside down to call out to fellow Americans, and to make them aware that our country is in distress. We seek to inform our fellow citizens and spread word of the changes that are needed to ensure our Liberty.

Most of the lawmakers on Capitol Hill support laws that infringe our Rights on a daily basis. We are saying 'enough is enough', we want the Bill of Rights and Constitution restored in America.

Is it okay to display the flag upside down to protest the war?

The Flag Code (see below) states that the flag flying upside down is used as a sign of imminent danger. It is an unreasonable stretch to argue that the political purposes constitute "dire distress." We recommend that people who wish to express their political views find a way to do so that is respectful of the flag. Remember that to some the flag represents the government of the US and its policies; but it also represents the promise as yet unfulfilled of the Declaration, it represents our freedom of speech, our freedom to practice or not practice religion as we choose, it represents American values, it represents one nation in its glory, it represents hope for a better future, and importantly it represents the sacrifices made in all generations to protect our freedoms.

Section 8a. The flag should never be displayed with the union down, except as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property.