OREM, Utah — While it might be obvious for some people, not everyone is aware that there is a specific way to retire the American flag.
Saturday morning, veterans met at Ready Gunner shooting range in Orem to bring awareness on how to properly and respectfully retire the flag.
They are to never be thrown away into the garbage can, but there are places you can take them if you don’t want to retire them. Quartermaster Kelly Kirkpatrick with American Legion Post 72 suggested dropping it off at any military office, or American Legion business.
Cody Snyder, a manager at Ready Gunner, was inspired to put together Saturday's event. He said it came after a windstorm tore through the Utah Valley a few months back, severely damaging their flag.
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“We have a massive flag that we’re super proud of here in front of our store," he explained. "The windstorm had kind of just ripped it to shreds."
After that, he knew it was time to retire the store's large American Flag. He said customers had even mentioned the damage that had been caused by the wind.
"The individuals that are here helping us retire it mean even more. They’re the veterans — those that put their lives on the line to go and protect our rights and liberties that we have,” said Snyder.
He invited the veteran group American Legion Post 72 to their store to retire flags. The Legion does a number of things throughout their community, such as veteran funerals and educating youth.
Kirkpatrick spent years serving in the Air Force. Now, he continues serving through acts of patriotism.
"This is American patriotism. It’s honor [referencing the flag]. Not thrown in a dumpster or burned for no good reason, or thrown in the ground and walked on,” said Kirkpatrick.
Snyder said Ready Gunner was honored to host several veterans on Saturday morning.
Kirkpatrick hopes people will properly retire the American flag and remember its meaning.
"We want people to be Americans and be proud of it,” he said.
