I am a graphic artist by trade, and though it IS possible these photos were doctored, I highly doubt it. Look at the details in the leaves that would have to be painted behind the flag if it were digitally removed. I inspected the close-up and there is no evidence of any cloning or hand painting. So either they are genuine, or a highly skilled professional spent a large amount of time and effort to doctor these photos. I find that scenario highly unlikely. Though it's popular to think now that everything is doctored from photos, to video, to taped conversations, as a pofessional who actually does this stuff for a living, it's not nearly as easy as most people like tho think. It's time consuming and expensive. "Wag the Dog" has given people a completely false view of computer manipulation of images. People in my industry laughed at how easy they made it look in that movie to doctor video footage. It's total fantasy. Reality is large groups of highly paid people working on expensive workstations to all hours of the night and STILL not reaching total perfection. Often budgets won't allow for it. In conclusion, I think these photos are real. I think people have a warped idea about digital manipulation in general. And I think the people in charge of the memorial are either petty and childish, or chose a particularily bad moment to clean the all the American items... all at the same time.