An aging group of former military personnel and friends observed a lesser-known patriotic occasion in Deltona.
In the run-up to the Fourth of July, American Legion Post 255 performed an annual flag-retirement ceremony, which means the honorable burning of worn-out and no-longer-serviceable U.S. flags. The careful ritual disposal of dilapidated flags is a tradition followed by the legionnaires, who gather in Deltona’s Veterans Memorial Park.
Flag Day is not a fully recognized federal holiday, in that the banks, stock exchanges, federal agencies and post offices do not close. June 14 is the date on which the Continental Congress adopted the Stars and Stripes as the official flag of the newly independent United States.
BEACON PHOTOS/AL EVERSON
