WEB EXCLUSIVE: Flag Day ceremony planned Friday

Special to the NEWS

San Benito Elks Lodge No. 1661 will host a public Flag Day Ceremony this Friday at 7 p.m. at the Veterans War Memorial site at the intersection of Sam Houston Blvd. and Rowson Street.

The public is invited to attend to demonstrate their patriotism through their presence, and by flying the U.S. flag on Friday at their home and/or businesses. In the event of inclement weather, the ceremony will be moved to the Elks Lodge at 251 N. Reagan St.

The Flag Day ceremony also offers citizens the opportunity to properly dispose of their flags. Containers will be placed onsite where flags may be retired in a dignified manner and without disrespect to the flag of the United States of America. The U.S. Flag Code reads, “The Flag, when it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning.” After the ceremony in San Benito, the returned flags will be restored until they can be burned, according to Earl Groh, Elks exalted leader.

After a U.S. flag has been burned, the ashes should be buried. Persons unable to burn and bury the flag are invited to deliver their flags to the Veterans War Memorial and stay for a tribute to the flag.

Supporting the Elks in the Ceremony will be the San Benito Veterans Advisory Board, according to Chairman Victor Garza. “This is the first year we as a group have joined in the ceremony. We view this day as a time to encourage our citizens to visibly demonstrate their pride in their country, which is truly represented in our beloved flag which stands for the rights and freedoms we experience as citizens of the United States,” he said. “It offers us the opportunity to honor America, to celebrate our heritage in public gatherings and activities, and to publicly recite the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America,” he added.

The ceremony will include a presentation by Elks officers on the “History of the 11 Flags that Have Flown over the USA.” “It is an interesting presentation that tells of what was going on in our history at the time each flag was flying,” Groh said.

To commemorate the adoption of the U.S. flag, the Congress, by joint resolution approved August 3, 1949, as amended (63 Stat. 492), designated June 14 of each year as “Flag Day” and requested that the President issue an annual proclamation calling for its observance and for the display of the flag of the United States on all Federal Government buildings.

“When proud patriots took up the fight for independence, they came together under a standard that showed their common cause,” said President Barack Obama in the official proclamation issued for Flag Day 2013. “When the wounds of civil war were still fresh and our country walked the long road to reconstruction, our people found hope in a banner that testified to the strength of our Union. Wherever our American journey has taken us, whether on that unending path to the mountaintop or high above into the reaches of space, Old Glory has followed, reminding us of the rights and responsibilities we share as citizens,” he said.

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