A proper retirement

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BROOKINGS – American Legion Post No. 74 conducted a flag retirement ceremony on June 14 in conjunction with Flag Day to promote the proper way to retire worn and/or faded, unserviceable flags. American Legion members present were Post Commander Bob Hurd (left), Vice Commander Russ Mileham (right), Adjutant Alan Kludt and Americanism Officer Christopher Gross.

The flag ceremony was conducted south of town with support from Brookings Fire Department Deputy Fire Chief Pete Bolzer, who was on hand to help with the ceremony. The American Legion is grateful to Pete for all the flag retirement ceremonies he has helped with.

The American Legion collects worn flags from two drop-off points in Brookings where residents can leave their flags to be retired properly. Worn flags can be dropped off at the flag drop box in Hy-Vee, or they can be turned in at the Post Office window.

When enough flags have been collected, the American Legion sets up and conducts a flag retirement ceremony to dispose of them properly. At Wednesday’s ceremony, 165 flags were retired. There have been at least one to two local flag retirement ceremonies per year over the past several years.

For more information about the U.S. Flag Code, information can be found at http://www.usflag.org/uscode36.html.