Up to 500 flags have already been collected for this second year of observing Flag Day at the fairgrounds in Xenia. The public is invited to the event, which will feature a 21-gun salute, a trumpet player to play “Taps,” a bagpipe player to play “Amazing Grace,” and several speakers.
“It’s a big deal,” said Sheriff Gene Fischer, who after seeing flags trampled upon during protests in 2015, decided it was time to bring back this tradition to Greene County.
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“That flag means a lot to me,” Fischer said. “That flag means a lot to a lot of people in this country. We’re going to treat it right and retire it the way it should be retired.”
Proper flag etiquette calls for an old flag that is no longer fit for display to be folded into the familiar triangle and burned while people salute and “Taps” is played in the background, according to The American Legion.
The ashes are then buried in the ground.
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Among the speakers will be retired U.S. Marine Staff Sgt. Thomas Arnett, who was deployed twice during his eight years of active duty.
His father, Randy Arnett, helps organize the event every year. Randy Arnett said he expects his son will talk about why he kept an American flag on his chest during missions while serving in the Middle East.
Love and respect for the American flag lies “very deep in my heart,” he said.
“Every time I turned the news on when my son was deployed, I would see the boys come home with flags draped over their caskets. This is my way of giving back and to do something properly with the American flag.”
Flags that are ready to be retired can be dropped off and included in the ceremony at one of three locations: The Greene County Sheriff’s Office, 120 E. Main St., Moorman’s Towing, 395 S. Miami Ave., or Murphy’s Autocare, 3815 Dayton Xenia Road, in Beavercreek.
How to go
What: Greene County Flag Retirement Ceremony
When: 7 p.m. June 14
Where: Greene County Fairgrounds, 210 Fairground Road, Xenia
Why: Proper flag etiquette requires an old, tattered American flag to be folded and burned, the ashes from which are then buried in the ground
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