Hundreds of worn flags collected for honorable retirement on Flag Day
Neighbors in East Sacramento surrounding McKinley Park say home surveillance video links a string of Pride flag thefts and vandalism at their homes.
By Alex Gaul
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ST. CHARLES, Missouri (KMOV) — Local leaders collected hundreds of worn-out flags Wednesday morning with the goal of giving them an honorable retirement this Fall.
It’s a tradition that started seven years ago with St. Charles County’s local veteran group. In that time, they collected over 10,000 flags of all ages and sizes. The 2023 collection included small parade flags, flags dozens of feet in length and flags from more than six decades ago.
“Regardless of what your political views are, this is the American Flag, and it needs to be treated correctly,” County Airport Director and Marine veteran Dennis Wiss said.
Wiss says he will take the flags collected Wednesday to AMVETS in St. Peters, where they will be properly disposed of this Fall.
“They have a 21-gun salute,” Wiss said. “They have a color guard… And then, the flags are burned.”
The county collected the flags out front of the St. Charles County government offices and St. Charles City Hall. It’s a service many residents are thankful for, some driving in from South St. Louis City and Wentzville to drop off their worn flags.
“This is probably several years worth (of flags),” Bill Peroutka said. “They get tattered in the wind… It’s time to put them to rest.”
“We’ve had this flag for about three years in a very windy area, and so it gets beat up,” Rick Watts said. “You respect the flag and the people who died to give us all our rights.”
If you didn’t make it to Wednesday’s collection, the county has drop-boxes available for old flags year-round.
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