An Honorable Retirement

 For Old Glory

 

By Shannon Hicks

About three dozen Troop 270 Boy Scouts and their leaders were joined by an equal number of parents, grandparents, and siblings when the boys had their annual Court of Honor and flag retirement ceremony at Cherry Grove Farm last weekend.

The boys spent part of Saturday, September 18, setting up their camp in the woods off Beaver Dam Road before welcoming their families in for dinner and the evening’s ceremonies. The formal flag retirement — a ceremonial burning of flags that are retired due to fading, tears, soiling, or personal reasons — is something the troop has been doing for about eight years, according to Troop 270 Scoutmaster Peter Lubinsky.

During the year Mr Lubinsky collects flags from the public, including Newtown Keeper of the Flag David Lydem, who maintains the Main Street flagpole and the flags it flies. The Boy Scouts retired about 40 flags last weekend, Mr Lubinsky said.

The evening began with dinner and then the Court of Honor, during which dozens of merit badges and patches were awarded. Special mention was made of four boys who were receiving their first merit badges, along with Eagle Scout candidate Michael Hubbard. When he reaches Eagle Scout status, Mr Lubinsky said Saturday evening, Michael will be the fourth young man from Troop 270 to achieve it this year.

“That number, in one year, is a rarity. It’s something we should be proud of,” Mr Lubinsky said.

The flag retirement ceremony itself was just about 20 minutes of the evening, but was perhaps the most dramatic. By the time the Scouts and their families reconvened around the campfire after a break to stretch their legs and warm up (it was chilly in the woods by that point), the sun had set and the campfire was burning brightly.

While family members returned to their chairs, Boy Scouts gathered on the opposite side of the campfire and lined up, many holding on to flags that had been duly folded into triangles. A Color Guard walked toward the fire, stopping a few yards away, and then one by one Scouts walked to the fire with their offerings.

As each Scout brought a flag to the fire, master of ceremonies Tyler Coleman announced what each flag’s placement was honoring. The first three boys actually burned the three main components of an American flag: one burned a set of red stripes, the next burned a set of white stripes, and the third burned the blue field.

Scouts then took turns approaching the fire with flags of varying sizes, quietly placing their bundle onto the growing pile of burning fabric.

Tyler then offered a bin of small flags that were to be retired, and invited family members to participate in the ceremony by selecting a flag or two from the collection and placing them onto the fire. A few parents and even one or two young siblings took the opportunity to do so, all with the same level of honor and dignity shown by the Scouts.

Finally, one of Newtown’s large flags was retired. A flag that flies during the winter months on the Main Street flagpole measures 12 by 18 feet, while the summer flags are 20 by 30 feet. Following guidelines set by the US Scouting Service Project (USSSP), Troop 270 Scouts cut apart the larger flags and then burn them in smaller pieces, usually one stripe at a time and then the full blue field.

“Seven red stripes and six white stripes, together they represent the original 13 colonies that gained us liberty,” Tyler Coleman read as Scouts placed their final bundles onto the fire. “The red stripes remind us of the lifeblood of brave men and women who were ready to die for this, their country. The white stripes remind us of purity and cleanliness of purpose, thought, word and deed.”

As four boys carried the folded blue field of the retiring summer flag toward the fire, Tyler read, “The blue is for truth and justice, like the eternal blue of the star-filled heavens.”

While Boy Scout and American flag tradition allows for a flag to be cut (not torn) into stripes, or even quartered into four large pieces, the blue field of an American flag should never be cut. “We do not cut the blue star field is it represents the union of the 50 states and one should never let the union be broken,” states the guidelines within the USSSP.

Once all flags were on the fire, attendees were thanked and the group quietly dispersed.

“I am always amazed at how well [the Scouts] conduct themselves during the ceremony,” Mr Lubinsky said this week. “After doing the ceremony for the second year we realized that we need to have this with families present.

“The boys really look forward to this event and now that we have the Newtown flag they are really into it and plan it out,” he said.

(The Newtown Bee is a drop-off point for the public all year for anyone who would like to have a flag properly retired by the Boy Scouts.)