Honoring the flag as part of National Flag Day
<p>American Legion Post #13 Member Earl Eisenbacher retires flags during Flag Day in De Borgia.</p>
The first official Flag Day was observed in Philadelphia in 1893 on June 4. Other states slowly followed the tradition until on May 30, 1916 then President Woodrow Wilson established June 14 as National Flag Day by proclamation.
Residents of Mineral County continued in the tradition of honoring the American Flag and what it represents by gathering at the Old De Borgia Schoolhouse on Friday to participate in National Flag Day ceremonies.
The ceremony involved members of the American Legion standing at attention while battered and used flags were presented to the commander of St. Regis Post #13.
“Commander, we wish to present a number of unserviceable flags to be inspected and disposed of,” a member of the American Legion said.
“Present the flags for disposal and inspection,” the commander replied. “Is the present condition of these flags the result of dutiful service as a reminder of our freedom and our country?”
“These flags have been faded and worn and torn,” the member responded. “Some of these flags have been displayed in various places in public view. We have the honor to present them for final inspection and proper disposal. These flags are of our country.”
“Comrades, we have presented here the flags of our country,” the commander said. “They have been inspected and condemned as unserviceable. They have reached their present state in proper service…it’s a precious symbol of all that we and our comrades have worked for, lived for and died for. A free nation, a free land. Let these flags of our country be retired and destroyed with respectful and honorable rights. Members stand at attention.”
Prior to a prayer, Mineral County Sheriff and American Legion member Ernie Ornelas said a few words to attendees gathered at the schoolhouse.
“Fellow veterans, patriots and citizens, the members of the American Legion wish to thank you for joining us as we gather here today on this Flag Day,” Sheriff Ornelas said.
Sheriff Ornelas went on to describe the history of the flag. Of its beginnings as the flag of the American Revolution to its transition into the flag we see today when it was proposed by the Second Continental Congress.
“The flag, popularly known as the Betsy Ross flag, which arranged the stars in a circle did not appear until the early 1790s,” Sheriff Ornelas said. “A resolution directed that as new states were added to the union another star would be added to the blue field of the flag of the United States.”
Continuing, Sheriff Ornelas spoke of the flag as a symbol of what the country stands for.
“It is a representation of the ideals forged by our founders and inscribed in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution which formed the core of our free republic,” Sheriff Ornelas said. “Countless patriots have sacrificed their lives in miserable battles here and in foreign lands across the sea for the flag. Did they perish for a worthless piece of fabric? No. It was and is for the republic for which it stands. We are one nation, under the hand of God, giving liberty and justice for all.”
After the conclusion of his speech, heads were bowed and a brief prayer was said prior to the retiring of the flags.
Two metal drums were set up with kindling and a fire and the flags were doused in flammable liquid before being placed into the drums.
As each flag burned and was honorably retired, the American Legion members and attendees stood silently in recognition of the flag and what it stands for.