Photo by Howard Owens
After a brief ceremony to incinerate retired flags on Wednesday at the VFW Post 1602, Veness-Strollo, in Batavia, members celebrated the freedom the U.S. Flag represents and the price paid and sacrifice made by those who served in the military to protect that freedom.
Members of the post incinerated dozens of flags as part of the ceremony.
A crew from the City of Batavia Fire Department was on hand to assist in the Flag Day ceremony.
The flags are collected from area residents throughout the year.
A flag that is torn or faded should be disposed of in a dignified manner, according to the U.S. Flag code, and incineration is the generally preferred method to dispose of flags that are "no longer a fitting emblem for display." Flags that are no longer serviceable should not be on public display.
The ceremony was carried out by Vice Commander William Frieday, Robert Kendall, treasurer, and member Ronald Gibson.
Each read from a script for the ceremony that reads in part:
A Flag may be a flimsy bit of printed gauze or a beautiful banner of the finest silk. Its intrinsic value may be trifling or great, but its real value is beyond price, for it is a precious symbol of all that we and our comrades have worked for and lived for and died for a free Nation of free men, true to the faith of the past, devoted to the ideals and practice of Justice, Freedom and Democracy.”
“Let these faded Flags of our Country be retired and destroyed with respectful and honorable rites, and their places be taken by bright new Flags of the same size and kind, and let no grave of our soldier or sailor dead be unhonored and unmarked. Sergeant-at-Arms, assemble the Color Guard, escort the detail bearing the Flags and destroy these Flags by burning.
Photos by Howard Owens.
Photo by Howard Owens.
Photo by Howard Owens.
