SAL Squadron 105 of Belleville, N.J., held their first flag education course on Feb. 3 at the Post Hall on Washington Avenue. The feedback from everyone who participated was very positive, stating that they all found the information presented very valuable ... and useful.
The class participants were from the Post 105 Family, as well as from the Wolf Den of Nutley’s Pack 141 Cub Scouts.
“ ...Understanding why and how it [the flag] is to be displayed and retired is important as an American,” noted den leader Pete Hoisick when asked for feedback. “Knowing the respect the flag gets and deserves helps build pride in the flag, the people who have defended it and our country.”
Detachment Adjutant Rusty Myers was the presenter. He developed the program, which discussed flag history, taught the U.S. Flag Code, flag retirement ceremonies and how to fold the flag - which ended with a Frequently Asked Questions session where many misconceptions about flag care and respect were debunked.
“Flag etiquette is something that doesn’t get taught anymore like it used to,” stated Myers at the class. “As long as you leave here with one or two things you didn’t know, we did our job.”
The class started by delving into the history of the American flag – by talking about the flag’s lineage from its roots in the Sons of Liberty Flag in 1770s America, all the way through its most recent iteration in 1960 when the last two stars representing Alaska and Hawaii were added.
It followed with everything about the Flag Code ... talking about how the flag is supposed to be displayed, how it is and is not allowed to be used, and how it is supposed to be honorably retired. The Sons also purchased literature to hand out – so everyone left the class with copies of the Flag Code and the booklet “Let's Be Right on Flag Etiquette.”
The American Legion itself was primarily responsible for the Flag Code being developed in 1923.
The highlight of the class, though, was teaching how to fold the flag. Myers and SAL Essex DEC James Elsmore folded the large casket-sized flag, as Wolf Den Leader Hoisick read what each one of the 13 folds of a flag stand for. The ‘students’ were also handed 8”x12” grave flags, which they folded and took home.
Hoisick’s son Ramsey said afterward that his “favorite part was learning how to fold the flag,” he also said he would like to participate in and see the flag burning ceremony for retired flags at Post 105.
