JOSHUA TREE, Calif. - Marines with 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion participated in a flag retirement ceremony hosted by the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7264 at Joshua Tree Memorial Park June 15. The seven Marines were part of the battalion’s color guard and flag-folding detail for the ceremony.
This was the fourth time that the VFW post has hosted the ceremony to commemorate Flag Day and to properly retire flags flown in the Morongo Basin. This year, more than 3,000 flags were retired during the ceremony.
“We’ve never had a place up here to properly retire an American flag,” said Roger Sherwin, post commander, VFW Post 7264. “The flag code called for it to be burned and interned. So about four years ago I talked to (Joshua Tree Memorial Park) and they donated a gravesite. Since then, we’ve gathered flags all around the Morongo Basin to be properly retired.”
The “flag code” Sherwin refers to is Title 4 of the United States code. The code dictates how flags are displayed, used and retired. The code also dictates rules and customs by the president and the Pledge of Allegiance.
The Flag Day ceremony was also an effort in educating the community on how to properly dispose of a weathered flag. The 3rd LAR Marines also brought out a flag to be retired in the ceremony.
During the ceremony, while Marines folded the flag, the story of what each fold meant was told.
“They told the story of the flag folding and it’s important the more people are out here,” said Crista Parfitt, 3rd LAR assistant family readiness officer. “When I heard about the event, I wanted to get the battalion involved. I volunteered my husband for the flag-folding detail.”
Date Taken: | 06.21.2013 |
Date Posted: | 06.21.2013 17:56 |
Story ID: | 109065 |
Location: | JOSHUA TREE, CALIFORNIA, US |
Web Views: | 87 |
Downloads: | 0 |
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