Seymour American Legion Post 10 retired about 1,000 flags from service Sunday during a solemn, official military ceremony at the Veterans Memorial Monument at French Park.
Many of the flags were faded, tattered and frayed from having flown for years.
American Legion Commander Mike Kearney of Post 10, Seymour, said the flags are first inspected and then blessed by a military chaplain. Once they get the blessing, they’re retired and destroyed by burning, in this case, in a fire bucket. The Legion members soaked the flags in kerosene first to ensure that they would burn easily.
This is not the first time the post has held such a ceremony.
“We try to do it near Flag Day, and sometimes at schools, if they allow it,” Kearney said.
Alex Olbrys of Naugatuck, a Boy Scout who has been working with the American Legion for a few months on his Eagle Scout project, assisted the American Legion members.
Olbrys is working on getting a big box to hold donations of old flags.
“It’s gotta be big, so I’m seeing if FedEx or UPS can donate one,” he said. “If I can’t find one, I’ll make one.”
Some of the flags used in the ceremony come from schools and town offices, but a large number come from graveyards, where they are placed next to the tombstones of veterans and those killed in war.
Per state law, graveside flags are only allowed from a week before Memorial Day to a week after the Fourth of July.
Previously, flags had been allowed year-round, and Legion members collected them for burning each year.
