WESTMINSTER

Having just gotten through one raging controversy over a Vietnamese flag, the city nearly stepped into another Monday. The U.S. Army Ranger Assn. asked for City Council permission to hang American and South Vietnamese flags on light poles along Bolsa Avenue later this month to commemorate the fall of Saigon--April 30, 1975. But they were initially opposed by a group of military veterans and at least one City Council member, who said that the flags were displayed last year in a manner disrespectful to the Stars and Stripes. No flag should be larger than or flown higher than the American flag, they said.

But at council urging, the Veterans of Foreign Wars agreed to compromise and work with Nguyen P. Hung, commander of the ranger group’s California district, to make sure that the flags would be flown in the proper manner. The two sides are expected to return to the council next week.