ELKS GIVING WORN FLAGS DUE DIGNITY.

Byline: DENNIS MCCARTHY 

CANOGA PARK - How do you throw away an old, torn and tattered American flag?

You don't. You honor it.

You take it to the Canoga Park Elks Club this Sunday morning, and you hand it over to guys like Bob Brennan and Dave DeLozier.

Then you sit back and watch how it's done.

With honor, respect and dignity.

You watch these men dressed in white tuxedos out of respect stand in front of a 55-gallon drum that will soon hold the ashes of the burned flags.

Flags that draped the coffins of servicemen killed in action, and flags that have flown over local police stations, fire houses, schools and homes for decades.

You listen to these men in their tuxedos read words like this from the flag retirement tribute book.

``Today, their colors are tattered and faded. They have served their country with honor and distinction, and have now reached the end of their patriotic journey.

``With a service of tribute, memory and love to our faded and worn American flags, we honorably retire them with dignity and respect,'' the men will say, setting each flag afire.

That's how you retire a worn, old American flag.

With honor, dignity, and respect.

< It was about three years ago that Bob Brennan put down the phone at Canoga Park Elks Lodge 2190, and called a couple of the other members over.

The guy on the other end of the line had heard about the Elks private flag retirement ceremony, and wanted to know how it was done because he and his buddies had flags they had brought back from World War II and Korea that were in pretty bad condition.

They were torn and tattered from decades of flying over their homes, and now it was time for them to go. But how do you get rid of an old friend, the guy wanted to know? They couldn't just throw it away.

``He wasn't alone,'' Brennan said. ``A lot of people were wondering the same thing. Too many of them were sneaking out to the trash Dumpster after dark to get rid of their old flags because they were ashamed for anyone to see they were throwing it away.''

There was only one thing for them to do, the Elks Lodge members agreed. Open their private ceremony to the public, and let anyone with an old flag stop by one day a year to give their old friend a proper burial.

That first year, they retired about 20 old flags, last year about 60. This year, the Elks are hoping to provide honor, respect and dignity to more than 100 old flags that have reached the end of their patriotic journey.

``Last year we had one lady who brought us the flag that had been draped over the casket of her son who was killed in action during Vietnam,'' said DeLozier, exulted ruler of the lodge.

``She was in tears when she handed it to me,'' he said. ``A lot of people were.''

A lot of the stories behind these old flags are heart wrenching, said Brennan, who is the lodge's activities chairman.

``They belonged to an uncle or brother, and had flown over a ship or Army barracks,'' he said. ``We've had police officers bring us the flags that have flown over their stations for decades.

``Last year, we had an airline pilot drop off an old flag on his way to LAX,'' he said. ``It had been with him since Vietnam, and he wanted to give it a proper burial.''

< Families are invited to attend the flag retirement ceremony Sunday. The event starts with a $4 buffet breakfast from 8 to 11 a.m., and the ceremony begins at noon. Boy Scout Troop 99 will assist the Elks with the ceremony.

It will be held on the picnic grounds at the Elks Lodge, 20925 Osborne St., Canoga Park. For more information, call the lodge at [phone].

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Photo:

Canoga Park Elks Lodge Exalted Ruler David DeLozier, left, and John Overton, Scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop 99 and a lodge member, show some of the worn flags that will be retired and burned in a ceremony Sunday at the lodge.

Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer