ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. — A veterans group will hold a retirement ceremony for American flags on Saturday, providing respectful disposal for the distressed Old Glories.
The ceremony will be held at 3 p.m. Saturday in the Brossman Ballroom at Masonic Village in Elizabethtown.
Members of Harrisburg Chapter 76 - National Sojourners, York Camp, Heroes of ’76, in full colonial uniform, will lead the ceremony, which consists of remarks, prayers, a performance of the National Anthem, the burning of distressed American flags, the playing of “Taps” and a three-volley salute.
Residents of Masonic Village and community members, including Elizabethtown American Legion, Elizabethtown Boy/Cub Scouts, Elizabethtown First Responders, ROTC groups and winners of an essay contest, have been invited to participate.
“These flags have become worn in service as an emblem of our Country, in the service of memory and tribute to our honored dead," organizers said in a press release. "From the shot heard ‘round the world,’ on April 19, 1775, at the Battles of Lexington and Concord, to those heroes of today, and in respect to events honored by our National Holidays.”
The National Sojourners are a Masonic organization of military members, which aims to foster appreciation of the American heritage of freedom of life, liberty, religion and free expression.
Heroes of ’76 and York Camp are affiliate auxiliary organizations of the National Sojourners.
