The St. Charles County Veterans Best Practices Working Group reached a milestone this Flag Day: More than 10,000 old and worn American flags have been collected over the past seven years through the group’s flag collection event and collection boxes.
“The American Flag is the symbol of our nation. It’s important to us to ensure these flags are disposed of respectfully, because that also represents the respect we have for our country,” says Dennis Wiss, a Marine Corps veteran and member of the Veterans Best Practices Working Group. Wiss is director of St. Charles County Regional Airport-Smartt Field.
Flags collected on Flag Day and throughout the year are donated to the AMVETS veterans service organization in St. Peters, which holds a formal flag retirement ceremony each September. The U.S. Flag Code calls for flags that are no longer fit for display to be retired and disposed of in a ceremonial burning.
Worn or damaged U.S. flags can be dropped off anytime at two collection box locations: the front of the St. Charles County Administration Building, 201 N. Second St. in St. Charles, or at the memorial garden in Veterans Tribute Park, 1031 Kisker Road in Weldon Spring.