By Lacey Watt
GREENFIELD — In a quiet, shaded area off of Steel Ford Road, veterans and family members gathered to eat, listen to music, laugh and, at the end of the day, watch the annual, ceremonial burning of many old and worn United States flags.
At the Greenfield Veterans Recreational Area, formerly known as La Place, members of the 40&8, American Legion and VFW of Greenfield came together to have a joint flag disposal ceremony.
The day started at 9 a.m., where members went through each flag, preparing them and placing them on posts in a roped-off area where they would later be burned.
The U.S. Flag Codes states that flags are to be disposed of by burning.
“We try to, in a dignified, solemn and respectful manner, dispose of the flag,” Butch Miller said.
Typically, they would try to do the flag disposal ceremony as close to Flag Day (June 14) as possible, but due to weather conditions and other factors, they pushed the date back.
Miller said that they have chosen to do it at this time of the year because it is more pleasant and more people can come out and have a good time.
Cindy Burk who is a auxiliary member of the American Legion, VFW and 40&8, attended the ceremony this past Saturday. Burk’s son is in the National Guard and has served three tours, with two in Iraq, and is also a firefighter and EMT in Greenfield.
Burk has served multiple positions over the years dedicating time to the organizations.
She believed that last year’s setup had more than 1,100 flags donated for the ceremony. This year, there was estimated to be about 2,000 flags.
“It’s in honor of them… I think it’s a beautiful setup. The whole thing is nice, and we’re so lucky to have this property to be able to do all this,” Burk said. “…It’s the camaraderie, the people, the love. We’re a big family.”
After finishing up going through the donated flags to later be disposed of, the members had their “Patriots Pitch-in Picnic” later that afternoon and chatted while listening to music by Bobby Wiggins Duo.
With a run through practice beforehand, the ceremony started at 7 p.m., with each organization inspecting the final flag and agreeing that it is ready for disposal. The flag was then placed with the rest and the display was set on fire to properly dispose of all the flags that served their time. A firefighter was also present with a grass truck just in case.
Carrie Cusenz, who is a VFW auxiliary member and the wife of a VFW member, helped set fire to the final flag.
“I think it’s something that everyone should see at least once,” Cusenz said. “It really gives you a whole new level of respect for what these guys do, what many men and women do for our country.”
Bob Workman, member of the board for Greenfield’s Honor Guard, served in the Marines from 1964 to 1970 and said that the group has about 30 members. Members will carry new flags with them, so when they see older and weathered flags in the county, they give a free one to replace it.
Workman said that sometimes they’ll even take down and replace the flags for those who are unable to do so. So far this year, Workman said they’ve handed out roughly 150 flags.
“We like to see nice, clean and bright flags everywhere,” Workman said.
Miller said that people from the community bring flags to the VFW all the time, and he hopes that it keeps up. For someone who has an older flag that they need to dispose of, they can take them to the VFW or American Legion where the flag will be stored until it is properly disposed of.
