American flags receive official retirement in Loomis

Five barrels were lined up, six feet away from each other, as part of the Loomis American Legion Post #775 and the Veterans of Foreign War Post #904 retirement of American flag ceremony last weekend. It was a ceremony to honor the retirement of more than 800 American flags that were aged, torn or tattered. These flags were ready for retirement by burning them. "It is a symbol of our nation … its ideal being fought to uphold and the comrades they lost along the way." Randy Green, owner of Green Rock Ranch in Loomis where the ceremony was being held, said the American flag has been carried in peace and conflict, stands tall at monuments, and people have clutched it during hours of grief. "As we consign these flags to the flames, we renew our pledge to uphold the values for which we have fought and sacrificed," Green said. "Let us retire these flags served as a reminder of our duty to support our veterans, to honor those that served and to strive every day to be worthy of their sacrifices." The four dozen people who attended the retirement of the flags may have noticed while driving onto Green's property a flagpole that has a silhouette of a soldier kneeling underneath the American flag. The solder has his weapon upside down and a soldier's helmet on top of the weapon. "The kneeling soldier with the upside-down gun … is a memorial that symbolizes loss, mourning and closure of the living, serving tribute to the fallen soldier," Green told the audience. Following Green's speech, the crowd turned to respect the flag used during the Pledge of Allegiance while "Taps" was played. Members of Posts 775 and 904, along with Scout troops from Rocklin and the crowd, proceeded to the middle of Green's wide-open backyard with railroad tracks in the background and placed the flags into the flaming barrels. Most of the flags were folded into a ceremonial triangle. One spectator said, "This is truly amazing to see a tradition of our American flag being carried on and to be part of its history."