American Legion Post #19 honoring Flag Day
The legion invites everyone to its flag disposal ceremony Sunday
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - American Legion Post #19 will be holding its annual flag disposal ceremony Sunday, in honor of Flag Day.
The ceremony starts at 6 p.m. and will be held at the post on Virginia Avenue south of 25th Street. Walt Blakesley is on the legion's Flag Education and Etiquette Council and tells us why it's imperative that U.S. flags be disposed of properly. "To put it mildly, it's in honor of those that went ahead and died for that flag. they're no longer with us, to help us protect it and it's up to us to make sure that, that flag is respected and taken care of in the proper manner," Blakesley said.
For more than a century, the American Flag or Old Glory, has been the symbol of freedom and strength. George Washington commissioned Betsy Ross, a seamstress, to make the flag in June of 1776. It wasn't until 1916, that then President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed that June 14t would forever be known as Flag Day.
Across the country Americans celebrate the day by hanging American flags and decorating their yards. In Yuma, the men and women of the American Legion Post #19 pay tribute to Old Glory by giving old worn and torn flags proper send offs. For years the legion has placed a drop off box at Lowe's Home Improvement in Yuma. Since its placement the legion has received more than 2,000 flags.
