JUNE 1992: A FIERY SALUTE; VETERANS TO SHOW RESPECT FOR FLAGS AT CEREMONY.Byline: Dennis McCarthy Dennis McCarthy may refer to:
They will meet at dusk - when the flames leaping from the 50-gallon drum will be at their most beautiful. It is important to these men, this ceremonial beauty. It signifies who they are, what they stand for - respect. Respect for their country and respect for its grandest, most enduring symbol - the flag. They fought for it, honored it and have proudly displayed it through the years. Now, they will meet at dusk in a small Sylmar park on Flag Day, June 14, to burn it. Burn U.S. flags that have outlived their time. Leo Leo, in astronomy Leo [Lat.,=the lion], northern constellation lying S of Ursa Major and on the ecliptic (apparent path of the sun through the heavens) between Cancer and Virgo; it is one of the constellations of the zodiac. Deeson will be there, as will Skeeter skee·ter n. Chiefly Southern U.S. See mosquito. See Regional Note at possum. [Shortening and alteration of mosquito.] David and a few dozen other men in uniform - veterans giving the flag an honorable and dignified end. It can be no other way for this old guard of soldiers. Respect demands it. Respect. There's a word that has taken a beating in recent years. Is it still in Webster's? Do they still use it in elementary school elementary school: see school. spelling bees or has it fallen off the list as being too outdated? Respect. Our leaders used to get it. Not anymore. They lost it a few dozen scandals ago. Teachers used to demand it. Not anymore. Today, they'll settle for making it home alive and getting a pay raise. Parents thought it was a rite of passage rite of passage n. A ritual or ceremony signifying an event in a person's life indicative of a transition from one stage to another, as from adolescence to adulthood. - respect for your elders. Not anymore. Today, too many parents would settle happily for not being abused by their grown children. Respect would be the gravy. Cops used to have it, too. The uniform and the badge cried out for respect. Not anymore. Cops lost it, too. Today, the same uniform and badge has become a target for violence and ugly slurs. Professional athletes, scholars, politicians - all had this thing called respect at some time. Most of them, too, have lost it. But old soldiers Old Soldiers is a sequel novel to the short story "With Your Shield" by David Weber, published in the anthology BOLO!, edited by same. It details the future of the two survivors of that battle as they try to keep alive a remnant of humanity, deliberately separated off and - veterans of foreign wars - they still get respect. Get it and give it. Something wrong Leo Deeson looks out from his front porch in Sylmar at the flag flying on a neighbor's house across the street. It is faded from too many years in the hot sun - frayed from too many strong winds. Deeson will offer to buy the man a new flag. ``People don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. what to do with their old flags,'' says the former commander of American Legion American Legion, national association of male and female war veterans, founded (1919) in Paris. Membership is open to veterans of World Wars I and II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. Post 538. ``One guy had 15 tattered, old flags in his garage. He had no idea what to do with them. All he knew was he didn't want to do something wrong.'' Something wrong, like throw them into the trash. ``Sometimes you find them there, in the trash,'' Deeson says. ``What a tragedy. It makes you wonder how many people know what to do?'' Not many, we agree. Maybe only old vets like Deeson and Skeeter David, the commander of American Legion Post 538 in Sylmar, know about Executive Order 10834. It says, ``The U.S. flag, when no longer a fitting emblem for display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning.'' Proper disposal So, that's what these old soldiers are going to do. In conjunction with the Sylmar Chamber of Commerce, they will burn your old flag - at dusk this Flag Day in Sylmar Park. In full uniform, they will stand at attention in two parallel lines and pass the flags from hand to hand - presenting them solemnly to the post commander. ``Comrade commander, we have the honor to present for final inspection and proper disposal these flags of our country - flags that have become faded and worn over the graves of our departed comrades and the soldier and sailor dead of all our nation's wars,'' the sergeant-at-arms will say. Post Commander David will accept the worn flags as no longer serviceable ser·vice·a·ble adj. 1. Ready for service; usable: serviceable equipment. 2. Able to give long service; durable: a heavy, serviceable fabric. . ``Let these faded flags of our country be retired and destroyed with respectful and honorable rites,'' he will say. ``Let their places be taken by bright new flags of the same size and kind. Let no grave of our soldier or sailor dead be unhonored or unmarked.'' The old soldiers will salute and the color guard will present arms pre·sent arms n. 1. A position in the military manual of arms in which the rifle is held vertically in front of the body. 2. A command to assume present arms or to give a hand salute. . The post standard will be dipped as members of the flag detail ``dip the condemned flags in kerosene kerosene or kerosine, colorless, thin mineral oil whose density is between 0.75 and 0.85 grams per cubic centimeter. A mixture of hydrocarbons, it is commonly obtained in the fractional distillation of petroleum as the portion boiling off and place them on a rack over the fire.'' A bugler will sound ``To the Colors.'' At dusk, when the flames will be at their most beautiful, because that is important to these men. It's all part of a thing we used to call respect. |
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