Kaine’s pin symbol of son’s military service

In a since-deleted tweet, the North Carolina Republican Party called out Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine for wearing the flag of Honduras on his lapel during his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday.

The tweet: “timkaine wears a Honduran flag pin on his jacket but no American flag. Shameful.”

Except it wasn’t the flag of the small Latin American country where Mr. Kaine had spent a year doing missionary work but instead the pin was a mini Service Flag, or blue star flag, denoting his son’s current service in the United States Marine Corps.

The red-trimmed, white flag comes in a number of variations. According to the Blue Star Mothers of America website, the flag can be displayed “by families who have members serving in the Armed Forces during any period of war or hostilities the United States may be engaged in for the duration of such hostilities.”

North Carolina has one of the largest concentrations of military bases and personnel in the United States and is home to Mr. Kaine’s son’s unit: 2nd Battalion 8th Marines out of Camp Lejeune, N.C., according to military documents. Known as “America’s Battalion,” 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines is a decorated infantry battalion that has deployed multiple times in support of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

First Lt. Nathaniel Kaine recently deployed with the Marine Corp’s Black Sea Rotational Force, a detachment based primarily out of Romania that trains with its European counterparts throughout Europe as a part of recent U.S. reassurance measures in region.

“timkaine, the NCGOP offers you, your family, and your son, a sincere apology,‘‘ the North Carolina GOP later tweeted.