Around 800 to1000 flags that had been collected over the past year were burned in a flag retirement ceremony conducted by the Kewanee Veterans Council, made up of the American Legion Post 31, the Kewanee VFW Post 8078 and the Marine Corp League. The event marked Flag Day, June 14 and was held at 11 am in the American Legion parking lot.
The ceremony, led by Jerry Thompson, finance officer for both the American Legion and the KVC, included the presentation of unserviceable flags for inspection. The flags included flags that flew over the resting places of service members and flags that were displayed in public places.
The recommendation was that the flags, “flown in the service of love,” be honorably retired from service and fittingly destroyed. The ceremony culminated in a prayer by KVC Chaplain Lou Vandevoorde, before the Color Guard was assembled. After the three rifle volley salute, John Blake played Taps.
The flags were then destroyed by fire with the largest of the flags, a 20’ x 30’ American flag that hung from a hook on a crane with a 320-foot boom, being retired first. The flag, which had even survived a derecho years ago in Victor, Iowa, was brought into the Kewanee VFW in 2022 several days after Flag Day and had been stored until Wednesday.
The flag belonged to Mortenson Wind Energy and was three years old. Employees Ben Hazen and Jeff Shackleton delivered the flag to the Kewanee post. VFW Quartermaster Ron Saey, at the time, said it was the largest flag that had ever arrived for retirement.
Among the flags burned this year was the flag that flew in Berrien Park in Kewanee and was purchased by the Kewanee Chamber of Commerce.
