Wayne Thomas, commander of Peterborough Cheney-Armstrong American Legion Post No. 5, saluted a table filled with flags that were faded, frayed or otherwise no longer considered serviceable.
It was a last moment of respect before they were to be destroyed in a flag-retirement ceremony hosted by the American Legion post Tuesday in Depot Square.
“A flag may be a flimsy bit of printed gauze, or a beautiful banner of finest silk. It’s intrinsic value may be trifling, or great. But it’s real value is beyond price,” Wayne said, reading from a a prepared statement. “For it is a precious symbol of all that our service men and women have worked for and lived for and died for. A free nation of men and women true to the faith of the past, devoted to the ideals and practice of justice, freedom and democracy.”
Tuesday was Flag Day, commemorating the Second Continental Congress designating the American flag – with 13 stripes, alternating red and white, and thirteen white stars on a blue field – on June 14, 1777. Under the U.S. Code, flags that are no longer considered serviceable should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning.
Post 5 members inspected flags collected throughout the year in Peterborough, Hancock and Dublin to ensure they were no longer serviceable. The flags were folded before being delivered to Thomas by community members, including veterans. The flags were saluted before being placed into the fire.
Thomas said the post had collected about 2,000 flags this year, but there are always a few people who come in-person to deliver a flag to retire.
That was the case for Hope W. Thomas, 95, of Hillsborough, who delivered a flag that had special meaning to her family. The flag belonged to her father-in-law, Howard Q. Thomas, a sergeant engineer who served in the military in 1918. The flag Hope Thomas retired on Tuesday was the one that her father-in-law fought under at the time – the 48-star flag, prior to the addition of stars to represent Alaska and Hawaii, which became states in 1959.
Hope Thomas said for a period of time after her father-in-law’s passing in 1964, she and her husband flew the flag daily outside of her home, but for several decades now it has sat, unused and unflown, in her barn, where its condition has deteriorated. She said she knew it was time it was put to rest, and due to its age and sentimental value, wanted to see it done with dignity.
“I’ve been thinking about this all these years, and I’ve been thinking, ‘I have to do this right. It should be done properly,’” she said.
After reading in the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript that there would be a formal flag-retirement ceremony in Peterborough, Hope Thomas decided this was the year she would say goodbye.
With a salute from Wayne Thomas, the flag was officially retired to the flames.
Peterborough collects flags no longer considered serviceable throughout the year at South Meadow School, the Town House and the transfer station. The flags are burned in an honor ceremony every year on Flag Day.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172, Ext. 244, or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.