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VFW Post 3596 of Plains usually has to contend with freezing temperatures when the club conducts its flag retirement ceremony each December. The 10 participating VFW members had mild weather Saturday evening, "which was good," said Heather Allen, the club quartermaster, because they had 249 flags to retire this year, four times as many as 2018 and 100 more than the average number. 

The Plains club holds the ceremony each Dec. 7 to honor the military members who perished in 1941 during the surprise attack by the Japanese at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, said club member Jim Gillibrand, who served in the Army from 1958 to 1961. 

There are various ways to dispose of an old unserviceable flag when it’s no longer fitting for display, according to the U.S. Flag Code, but disposal by fire is the preferable way. “It’s more respectful to do it this way,” said Ron Kilbury, the post commander who led the ceremony. “This is like a funeral service for the flag. And it’s considered to be a living entity,” said Kilbury, a 26-year veteran of the Army and Navy.

“Tonight we honor the symbol of our freedom, the American flag, as we retire her from duty,” said Kilbury, who then led the vets and 22 spectators at the ceremony in the Pledge of Allegiance.

“The American flag, otherwise known as Old Glory, the Stars and Stripes or the Star-Spangled Banner, represents the land, the people, the government, and the ideals of the citizens of the United States of America,” said Kilbury just before the veterans started placing the flags in one of two barrels of fire.

It took Kilbury, Allen, an Air Force veteran, and her husband, Eric, an Army vet, three hours to fold all the flags and dissect the 37X20-foot Sanders County Fairgrounds flag for the fire. The group retired 239 American flags, one Montana state flag, two Prisoner of War/Missing in Action flags, one flag from each of the five military services, an Army 82nd Airborne flag, and two Confederate flags.  

A handful of spectators, some veterans themselves, helped with the ceremony, including 6-year-old Cash Farmer, who had his own unserviceable flag to put into the fire. “He wanted to do his own flag because it had done its job,” said Ed Farmer, Cash’s grandfather, an Air Force veteran. 

The post started the flag retirement ceremony in 2001 with the former Boy Scout Troop 1946. With few Scouts in the community, the VFW has mostly conducted the ceremony by itself, although the boys from Troop 1957 have periodically stepped in to help. American Legion Post 52 holds a flag retirement ceremony on June 14, Flag Day.  

It was a first-time flag retirement ceremony for 95-year-old Betty Meyer of Paradise. “I was really amazed. It made me think about all those people that get flags when they lose a loved one in the military,” said Meyer, an Army World War II veteran. “I wished I’d gone to these a long time before.”

After only about 20 minutes, the barrels were full and flames were reaching some 15 feet into the night. Club member Don Kunzer, a retired soldier, will bury the flag’s ashes, as he has done for several years. The ceremony ended with Kilbury playing “Taps” on an electronic bugle.

The VFW also held their annual spaghetti feed at the club on Saturday afternoon, put on by the Auxiliary. Fourteen veterans and 11 others attended the dinner, which was free for veterans.