Saturday, April 10, Bristow Boy Scout Troop 571 performed a flag retirement ceremony at VFW Post 3656 with members of the troop, post, auxiliary and public in attendance.
A scout began the ceremony by talking about the importance and purpose of retiring the flags and spoke about the program. Following his presentation, all attendees saluted the flag and sang “God Bless America” together in reverence to the country and American flag.
The flag retirement began with scouts standing at opposite ends of a large American flag. With reverential care, the flag was cut apart in sections. First, the blue field was cut from the flag. Following the removal of the blue field, each stripe was cut away from the flag until all pieces were dutifully separated. Each scout took turns in a line collecting each piece as it was removed.
Once all pieces were separated, each scout walked by the fire pit to retire the piece within his possession. The white stripes retired first into the flames. The red stripes followed the white, and the blue field was retired last. Troop 571 folded all remaining flags into military-style triangle folds for a dignified retirement. In one final honor, scouts placed the folded flags into the flames of the firepits to be retired.
Once troop members incinerated all flags, they extinguished the fires and buried the ashes behind the VFW. The grommets were gifted as souvenirs to attendees who desired one. Troop 571 kept remaining grommets for another dignified purpose. Attendees David and Virginia Ray stated, “The ceremony was very impressive and well organized. They did a very good job. The scouts did something respectful with each piece of the flag.”
For general information about U.S. Boy Scout flag ceremonial practices, visit usscouts.org/ceremony/flagret1.asp. For more information about future local events or flag retirement ceremonies, please contact Troop 571 Troop leader Amos Ingram at 918-605-0768 or email the troop s at bristowtroop571@gmail.com.