Flag retirement ceremony held at cemetery
More than 1,000 unserviceable flags collected over the past few months were properly disposed of during a special ceremony on Monday in honor of Flag Day, which commemorates the adoption of the country’s flag in 1777.
Monday’s event, which saw several dozen community members attend, was organized by the American Legion Stephen M. Brammer Post 705 (Yuba City). Ryan Aday, first vice
commander for Post 705, said properly disposing American flags through a ceremonial cremation is a way of showing respect for one of the nation’s most patriotic symbols. Flags are deemed unserviceable and retired when they become frayed, torn or damaged, or their colors fade.
“The flag is our nation’s banner and has been ever since 1777. That flag has been brought into every battle we’ve been in since then, whether high up on a pole or, in modern times, on our soldiers’ uniforms,” Aday said. “It is not only our nation’s flag but also our battle flag.”
Members of the local American Legion Post came up with the idea for the flag retirement ceremony after local Boy Scout Brandon Knox approached them and asked if they would be willing to collect and maintain American flags if he built four drop-off boxes and placed them around the county as part of his Eagle Scout project.
“Once flags started coming in, we knew we needed to do something with them,” Aday said. “Also, considering everything that has been going on recently, with the shutdowns due to COVID-19 and the political bickering, we decided that we needed to hold an event that would remind people of why we honor the flag, how we honor the flag, and how the flag honors us.”
In planning the event,
Post 705 coordinated with several local Lions Clubs, Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Yuba City Fire and Sutter Fire departments and various other organizations in an effort to make the inaugural event the largest such event held in the Yuba-sutter area to date.
The event kicked off around 9 a.m. with introductions, followed by an opening prayer and the singing of the “StarSpangled Banner.” Local Assemblyman James Gallagher also spoke during the event before Knox had a chance to say a few words — both were presented with plaques from Post 705 along with flags that were flown in a U2 from Beale Air Force Base.
Members of Post 705 performed a rifle salute and played “To the Colors” on a bugle as the ceremonial cremation of the first flag took place. Following the hour-long ceremony, members of Post 705 remained on site to finish retiring the remaining flags collected through the effort.
“It went extremely well for being the first one that we did,” Aday said. “…This was our inaugural event, so moving forward we plan on doing this annually. We’d like to see it grow with each passing year.”
Aday said Post 705 will continue to collect unserviceable flags and the four drop-off boxes will remain in place — those locations include the Sutter Cemetery (7200 Butte Ave., Sutter), Grange Co-op (1262 Stabler Lane, Yuba City), New Earth Market (1475 Tharp Road, Yuba City), and Sutter County Elections Office (1435 Veterans Memorial Circle, Yuba City).