Scout makes flag collection box available

Noreen Hyslop photo Kenady-Hanks American Legion Post 59 Commander Jerry Seabaugh accepts keys to the newly-installed flag collection box from local Troop 200 Eagle Scout, Ben Haney. Haney recently completed the flag deposit box and a unit to properly dispose of American flags as his Eagle Scout project.

Another local teen has earned the rank of Eagle Scout, and in the process has provided a long-awaited service to the community.

A small crowd gathered at American Legion's Post 59 recently to witness the first official gathering held for the purpose of ceremoniously retiring used, non-serviceable American flags.

Protocol calls for US flags that are in such condition, and are no longer a fitting emblem for display, to be destroyed in a dignified manner, and until Ben Haney completed his Eagle Scout project, that service was not available locally. Now, through his work within Troop 200, Scouts are able to participate in a formal flag retirement ceremony, conducted in accordance with the Boy Scouts of America guidelines.

Haney, a member of Troop 200 since he was six years old, is now a 17-year-old high school junior, the son of Mike and Sheila Haney, who have consistently been active participants in their son's Scouting efforts over the years.

Ben Haney has worked on the project that has gained him the rank of Eagle Scout for several months and the fruits of his labor now stand in full view at the Kenady-Hanks Post in Dexter. At the Post's entrance there now stands a drop-off box, similar to a US Mail box in appearance, but clearly labeled in the yellow and blue colors of the American Legion, as an official collection box for US flags that have served their purpose and are ready to be retired.

The box was designed by Haney and, as is recommended by the Boy Scout Council, fellow Troop 200 members aided in its construction.

Along with the dropbox itself, Haney constructed a mobile burning pit, complete with racks upon which to hang flags as they are individually destroyed by fire. The unit was officially put to use on Sunday during a solemn ceremony that concluded with the burning of about a dozen discarded flags.

Troop 200 has collected used flags for years in the area, but until recently has had to send the flags off to another location for burning. The local troop now has not only the knowledge and training regarding the proper method by which to retire the old flags, but the equipment as well, thanks to Haney's project.

In a solemn ceremony at Post 59, following the formal presentation of the Scout's Color Guard, Haney addressed fellow Scouts, along with several members of Post 59 who were on hand help with the retirement ceremony.

One by one, flags were suspended on a metal pole and held over the fire pit and their edges dipped into the flames to become fully engulfed in the flames. With deep respect, the smallest of remnants remaining on the pole were removed by the gloved Scouts conducting the ceremony, and each thread properly deposited into the flames of the fire pit. The ashes from the flag's burning will later be buried at the Missouri Veterans Cemetery in Bloomfield.

"Today we honor the symbol of American freedom, the American flag," Haney said as Sunday's ceremony got underway. "These flags stand as a constant reminder that we live in a country where our freedom has been deeply purchased by blood, by sweat, by tears and by unlimited sacrifice."

"We must not forsake what those in service to the flag and their families have fortified."

At the conclusion of the ceremony, Haney told the spectators, "The flags we retired here today have been replaced by new flags, and those new flags will someday be replaced in a cycle that never ends as long as Americans cherish liberty more than life itself."