American Legion retires Old Glory in flames
Linda Sappington
On Flag Day, Jeff Nelson, District Treasurer with the American Legion Hardwick Post 112, retires worn stars and stripes at Lakeview Cemetery in Polson.
Linda Sappington
American Legion members sort through worn flags.
Linda Sappington
Local veterans hope to eventually establish a permanent site for retiring flags, close to the military markers at Lakeview Cemetery. “We’re next to all the veterans that bled for this flag,” John Miller, retired Marine Corps veteran, said. “It would be an honor to have something here.”
Linda Sappington
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POLSON — Protocol says the American flag should never touch the ground — or be heaped in the trash when the colors fade and edges fray.
So when members of the American Legion Hardwick Post 112 retired a couple hundred flags on Sunday, they lit them up with honor in a 50-gallon drum crematorium.
“Every other country throws their flags away,” Marine Corps veteran John Miller said.
The burning followed a short, ceremonial inspection of one symbolic flag. Nylon flags hit the flames; cotton flags were donated to the local funeral home where the family of a deceased veteran often requests the stars and stripes be cremated with their loved one, and the grommets are saved for good luck.
Although the Post brings the drum and propane to Lakeview Cemetery each Flag Day, they are hoping to fundraise to create a permanent location for retiring flags near the military gravesites.
“We’re next to all the veterans that bled for this flag,” Miller said. “It would be an honor to have something here.”
