300 Flags Retired - TN
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Friday, 06/15/07 300 flags retired during ceremonyFlag Day ritual draws veterans, honors Old Glory |
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. — Whenever Tip Gibson saw a U.S. flag being mishandled, it was time to make an “on the spot correction,” his family said.
That’s why it was so important for his widow, Myrtle Gibson, and her son, Gene Gibson, to honor Old Glory on Flag Day.
“He was never able to see it fly,” Myrtle Gibson said about her husband, who had planted the pole but never flew his large American flag. He died Feb. 15, 2005, and the flag flew at half staff during his funeral.
Tip Gibson served 20 years in the Army and drove for the Montgomery County Veterans Van Service for 15 years. “The flag was such a big subject for him,” she said.
And it was Tip Gibson’s reverence for the flag that left such a big impact on his son.
“He had a lot of respect for the flag and what it stood for,” said Gene Gibson, who retired from the Air Force. “He instilled it in us, too.”
Myrtle Gibson watched proudly Thursday as her son gently tossed his father’s flag into the fire in a 50-gallon metal drum.
About 300 worn and tattered flags were retired in a dignified burning during the Flag Day ceremony at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 4895 on Haynes Street.
Event organizer David Ross, who works with the Montgomery County Veterans Service Organization, said it’s important to give the flag a proper ritual before disposing of it.
“Anytime you have a celebration like Flag Day, you have to remember our circumstances,” said Ross, also a Vietnam War veteran and Purple Heart recipient.
“We’re a nation at war, and we have soldiers deployed in harm’s way,” Ross said.
“When you take an oath as a soldier, you defend your country and your flag. Because the 101st Airborne Division so close — we make this an important event.”
Flag Day was designated at the National Flag Conference Meeting in Washington, D.C., on June 14, 1923, by various patriotic organizations. After World War I, the goal was to have an official document outlining how the U.S. flag is to be honored, with specific instructions on how to fly it, fold it, carry it and retire it.
