Respect

On a Sunday morning before Flag Day I noticed an unusual gathering in front of the local American Legion Post.

A small group was gathered around a fire pit and on the tables behind them there were piles of American flags. After a moment I realized it must be a flag retirement ceremony and I pulled over to watch.

Not everyone knows, but apparently enough people in my town know, that when an American flag gets worn out from flying, there is a proper way to dispose of it. Burning is one of the acceptable methods.

All year long residents of my town drop their old flags off at this American Legion post and twice a year all the flags collected are burned in a pit constructed by local Eagle Scouts.

We live in a fraught period of American history. Many people claim the flag as the symbol of their cause and some have even replaced the American flag with flags of their own.

At this fire pit, on this Sunday morning, the flag belonged to everyone no matter their political views and it was treated with the respect a symbol of the United States deserves and requires.