Retiring The Red, White And Blue
Navy Cadets, Boy Scouts and Military Veterans Come Together To Train And Execute A Traditional Ceremony
Story and Photography By Raoul Dennis
When in the field of battle in the military, everything a warrior carries doubles as a potential weapon. Even a box of MREs can be used to do some kind of damage..
So, in turn, there’s a proper process and procedure for everything in military life. Nothing is left to haphazard approach or inconsistency. This especially includes retiring a United States Flag whose best years are years gone by.
What was unusual about the retirement ceremony on Flag Day 2024 (June 14), was the coming together of U.S. Navy JROTC Cadets, a troop unit of the U.S. Boy Scouts and the members of one of the largest VFWs in Maryland to make it happen.
“Here in America, perhaps more than any other nation on earth, the symbolism of our flag means so much, and to see the honor and reverence shown to it and instilled across multiple generations, is truly inspiring,” said M.H. Jim Estepp, President and CEO of the Greater Prince George’s Business Roundtable and the Andrews Business & Community Alliance.
“Every year at this post we put on a Flag Day ceremony,” says Sgt Maj. Mike Eason, commander of VFW 9376 in Clinton, MD. “We’re going to show you the proper way to retire a worn flag.”
He continued: “You do a short ceremony where the flag is folded, unfolded, saluted and then placed in a burning pit.”
In the case of civilians?
Worn flags should be brought to the post and placed in a collecting drop area for proper retirement.
VFW Post 9376 is one of the largest in Maryland because Prince George’s is the home of one of the largest communities of veterans in the state. It’s no coincidence that Marine Sgt Major Efrem Wilson, who has been designated to lead his JROTC cadets from Northwestern High School, is also a member of post 9376.
Wilson is a naval science instructor who trains the cadets—in true Marine fashion—for ceremonies just like the Flag Day occasion they faced today. He planned to push his cadets to give the Boy Scouts of Troop 81 instruction in the process as well.
“We are here to participate in the flag retirement ceremony which consists of, by U.S. code, destroying the flag by burning it. The process consists of narration, introduction by the post commander, the playing of TAPS, and the presentation of colors brought the color guard,” Wilson said.
“It’s important that our youth and our veterans are familiar with the code set forth in retiring the flag and to educate the American public of the process of how our U.S. flags ae retired,” he says.
