VFW 8736 disposes of old U.S. flags

By LENNY C. LEPOLA

News Assis­tant Man­ag­ing Editor

The United States Flag is never to be taken lightly; just ask any vet­eran who has fought under the ban­ner we often take for granted. As Veteran’s Day approaches, we may want to take down our old flag that has faded and become tat­tered from days and nights out­doors in sun, wind, rain and snow.

But how do we dis­pose of that old flag after we’ve hoisted the new one?

Old flags are burned, but there is a proper pro­to­col, and that pro­to­col is most often accom­pa­nied by a cer­e­mony con­ducted by local vet­er­ans orga­ni­za­tions like the Vet­er­ans of For­eign Wars (VFW).

Dur­ing the cer­e­mony, the flag should be folded in its cus­tom­ary man­ner. It is impor­tant that the fire be fairly large and of suf­fi­cient inten­sity to ensure a com­plete burn­ing of the flag. The flag is placed on the fire. The indi­vid­u­als per­form­ing the cer­e­mony come to atten­tion, salute the flag, recite the Pledge of Alle­giance and have a brief period of silent reflection.

After the flag is com­pletely con­sumed, the fire should then be safely extin­guished and the ashes buried.

On Sat­ur­day, Sep­tem­ber 15, mem­bers of VFW Post 8736 burned over 700 U.S. Flags that were no longer fit for fly­ing. Most were col­lected at the Sun­bury Branch of the U.S. Post Office at a Flag Dis­posal Box main­tained by the post.

The event was held at the Chris and Lynn Callen prop­erty and was pre­ceded by VFW Post Com­man­der Jerry Jodrey read­ing the offi­cial flag burn­ing rules, fol­lowed by a prayer for the future safety of America.

The cer­e­mony ended with VFW Honor Guard Bugler Chris Callen play­ing Taps; a hog-roast pre­pared by Gary Tucker imme­di­ately fol­lowed the ceremony.

Through­out the year Big Wal­nut area res­i­dents and busi­nesses may deposit used flags in the offi­cial Sun­bury VFW Post 8736 flag repos­i­tory box located in front of the Sun­bury Post Office, or drop flags off at the Sun­bury VFW post dur­ing nor­mal busi­ness hours.

The fed­eral flag code says the uni­ver­sal cus­tom is to dis­play the U.S. flag from sun­rise to sun­set on build­ings and sta­tion­ary flagstaffs in the open, but when a patri­otic effect is desired the flag may be dis­played 24 hours a day if prop­erly illu­mi­nated dur­ing hours of dark­ness. Also, the U.S. Flag should not be dis­played when the weather is inclement, except when an all-weather flag is displayed.

Addi­tional U.S. Flag eti­quette is out­lined in the US Flag Code.

When dis­play­ing the U.S. Flag on the same staff with another flag, the U.S. Flag is flown at the peak. When grouped on dif­fer­ent staffs, the U.S. flag goes to its own right, and flags of other nations are flown at the same height.

When march­ing, the U.S. Flag is to the marcher’s right, the observer’s left. On a speaker’s plat­form, a dis­played U.S. Flag must be above and behind the speaker. If mounted on a staff it is on the speaker’s right.

Never use the flag for dec­o­ra­tion. Use bunting with the blue on top, then white, then red. All per­sons present in uni­form should ren­der the mil­i­tary salute. Mem­bers of the armed forces and vet­er­ans who are present, but not in uni­form, may ren­der the mil­i­tary salute. All other per­sons present should face the flag and stand at atten­tion with their right hand over the heart, or if applic­a­ble, remove their head­dress with their right hand and hold it at the left shoul­der, the hand being over the heart.

Over a street, the Union (stars) face north or east depend­ing on the direc­tion of the street. On spe­cial days, the flag may be flown at half-staff. On Memo­r­ial Day it is flown at half-staff until 12 noon and then raised.

Do not let the U.S. Flag touch the ground. Do not fly flag upside down unless there is an emer­gency. Do not carry the flag flat, or carry things in it. Do not use the flag as cloth­ing. Do not store the flag where it can get dirty. Do not use it as a cover. Do not fas­ten it or tie it back. Always allow it to fall free. Do not draw on, or oth­er­wise mark the flag.

Posted by Gary Henery on Sep 21 2012. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS Feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.