Waitsburg Scouts hold a flag retiring ceremony

WAITSBURG - Girl Scout Troops 2127, 5381, and 5383 and Boy Scouts of America Troop 337 held a Flag Retirement Ceremony at the Waitsburg Cemetery on Flag Day, June 14.

The ceremony began with the raising of the Flag of the United States.

Emylee Willams, Lillian Carpenter, Shylo Hedges, Chelsea Faden, Sidian Stegall, and Katherine Roberts followed with retirement ceremony readings.  

"The Flag of the United States of America is an honored symbol of our nation's unity, its hopes, its achievements, its glory, and its high resolve," read Williams.

The U. S. Flag Code says, "The flag, when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning." 

Often, to make sure that the flag is entirely burned in a timely manner, the flag is cut. The two methods typically used are:

Quartering the flag where by cutting the flag in half vertically, then placing the two pieces together and cutting horizontally, careful to leave the blue field of stars intact.

A full cutting involves removing the blue field from the flag and cutting apart each stripe separately, ending up with 13 sections.

The Waitsburg scouts prepared the flags given to them before the event using the full-cut method. They received several flags on the day of the retirement ceremony, and most were quartered by the scouts. One particularly large flag received on Flag Day was prepared using the full-cutting method to ensure it would burn to ash.

In both methods, the scouts learn not to cut into the blue starred field. Under the flag code, cutting and separating any of the stars representing the 50 states is considered disrespectful.

"One of the things both scout troops were trying to emphasize was learning how to treat the flag with proper respect and etiquette," said Boy Scout Troop Leader Sarah Roberts. She said they were looking forward to offering this event annually in conjunction with the Girl Scouts.

As several scouts gave readings during the ceremony, others placed the retired flags on the fire.

Roberts read, "As the fire consumes the worn and tattered material in its purifying flame, let us remember the words of George Washington when the Star-Spangled Banner was first flown by the Continental Army: 'We take the stars from heaven and the red from our mother country. We separate the red by white stripes, thus showing that we have separated from her, and the white stripes shall go down to posterity representing liberty.'

"Thus, the Stars and Stripes became what it is: born amid the strife of battle, it has become the standard around which a free people have fought to preserve the greatest nation in the world," read Roberts.

Participating in the retirement of 29 flags were scouts from:

Girl Scout Troop 2127: Scout Leader Becky Pinney and Scout member Chelsea Faden

Girl Scout Troop 5381: Scout Leaders Brandi Hollingsworth and Stephanie Carpenter; and Scout members Tia Gohn, Lillian Carpenter, Emylee Williams, and Elizabeth Hays

Girl Scout Troop 5383: Scout Leader Amber Lambert and Scout member Jessika Lambert

Boy Scouts of America Troop 337: Scout Leaders Justin Stegall, Tim Hollingsworth, Jon Roberts, and Sarah Roberts; and Scout members Sidian Stegall, TJ Hollingsworth, Shylo Hedges, Katherine Roberts, and Victoria Roberts.