Flag Service Ceremony Set to Honor Veterans

Organizers are preparing the burn pit in South Park for tattered United States flags to be placed inside it and set aflame in honor of their service to the country.

The special burn receptacle—located at the heart of the South Park Flag Retirement Plaza—will be the focal point during the 2011 South Park Flag Retirement Ceremony at 1 p.m. on Thursday, June 9.

Allegheny County Council hosts the annual event to commemorate local veterans and to properly retire the American flags, as outlined by the U.S. Code. Each year, local Boy Scouts and veterans dispose the worn flags by incinerating them. 

All residents are invited to attend.

Allegheny County Council members, local elected officials, Junior ROTC cadets, various veterans’ organizations, performers and others will participate in the event to display respect for the flags and for veterans who selflessly serve the country in the name of freedom.

Council member Vince Gastgeb, R-Bethel Park, was one of the initiators of the first ceremony in 2006.

“This annual event is one of the best patriotic commemorations I have ever attended,” Gastgeb said in a news release. “Witnessing how much respect, admiration and love for the flag that veterans express invokes true emotion. Each ceremony is historic, and I know citizens will attend to partake in the event.”

“The United States flag stands for so much,” said council member Nick Futules, D-Oakmont, in a news release. “It stands for sacrifice, for freedom, for hope. It is a symbol representing who we are as citizens of this great nation, and we pay tribute to it by properly and respectfully retiring it.”

The retirement plaza is located in South Park behind the Children’s Theatre. For more information on the plaza, please visit alleghenycounty.us/parks/spflag.aspx. For directions, please contact the parks department at 412-350-7275.