PORT LUDLOW — With dignity and honor, 43 U.S. flags were burned to ashes Monday as they were retired from service outside the Bay Club.
Folded 13 times, each flag was dedicated to a particular soldier or patriotic cause before being partially unfolded and draped over a small fire.
A flag retirement ceremony is rare, retired Marine Corps Capt. Jerry Conover said.
Conover led Monday’s Memorial Day service with five other veterans and the son of a Marine, Bay Club manager Mike Morgan.
The annual ceremony in Port Ludlow started three years ago to serve the needs of a few residents who didn’t know how to dispose of aged and tattered flags.
That first year, more than 20 flags were dedicated and burned, Morgan said.
Dedications to loved ones
Some of the flags burned Monday still had their vivid red, white and blue colors. Most had been stored away after covering a casket of a dead service member.
Family members can dedicate the flag to their loved one before it is retired.
Lined up behind a table, dedicating the flags one by one with a salute were the veterans and retirees — Marine Maj. Austin “Tink” Green, Navy Capt. Jack Kaelborer, Army Col. John Franznick and Coast Guard Capt. Peter Joseph and Seaman Gary Atkisson.
Other flags had simply seen a few too many breezy days.
One flag retired Monday was flown over a base in Antarctica by Joseph when he was stationed on the icy continent.
The solemn ceremony was attended by about 70 people.