KSHB 41 reporter Claire Bradshaw covers eastern Jackson County, including Blue Springs and Independence. Share your story idea with Claire.
An American flag can wave for a long time, but where can you take it when it comes to retirement? A Blue Springs Eagle Scout has the answer: his new flag drop box at Pink Hill Park.
Aiden Volk came up with the idea with his grandma and it honors what the flag stands for: freedom.
“I’m also dedicating it to the veterans, and I'm also dedicating it to my grandpa. He passed away. He was a Vietnam veteran,” said Volk.
According to the U.S. Department of Defense, an American flag should not be thrown in the trash. The right etiquette is to burn it in a proper retirement ceremony. A ceremony that Volk’s scout troop has done before at campouts.
“We’ll cut the stars out to fill to the flag out, and then we cut the red and the white stripes up,” said scoutmaster Kevin Darnell with Troop 1183. “[Veterans and service members] will call the people up with the red stripes, they'll call people up with the white stripes, throw them into the fire, then the field gets thrown in, and then the main flags get thrown in.”
The ashes are then buried, and the flag grommets are collected. Synthetic flags are buried instead of burned because of the chemicals they would emit.
Darnell said an Eagle Scout project teaches scouts many life-long lessons.
“Responsibility, how to start a project and try to finish it. You know, we don't always finish our goals, and that's okay, as long as you give it your best, you try your hardest. The path along the way, it teaches them leadership,” said Darnell.
Volk's path was with his dad. They worked for months on the project, from pouring the concrete base to designing, cutting, and wrapping the aluminum box. It was a path worth taking, paved by the men and women who stood for the flag that Volk is working to respect.
“I knew there was gonna be some flags, but I didn't expect this many flags,” said Volk, who already had more than 30 flags within his first week. “Feels great, because I've been working for it… but just something in my mind just kept me going through Scouts.”
The flags collected by Volk will be dispersed either to local scout troops to be burned at campouts or to the American Legion.