American Flag Retirement Ceremony

 On this 4th of July below is a brief video of an American Flag retirement ceremony. The whole service took an hour with all of the flags retired, however in the six minute video you get an idea of how it works. It was filmed at Menomonee Falls WWII Days in June 2023 and compiled together using video clips and iPhone live images.
Ev
A Heck of A Nice Guy

Good evening everyone.
My name is Everet Kamikawa.
I’m a committee member for Troop 260 based out of
St. Margaret Mary Church on 92nd and Capitol Drive.
Thank you very much for coming to our flag retirement ceremony this evening.
How many of you are seeing a flag retirement ceremony for the first time?
(people raise hands)
How many of you have never seen a flag retirement ceremony before? 

(same people raise hands)
I got a few of you raising your hands twice.

Before we begin I just want to say a quick thank you to Nancy and the organizers of WWII Days for giving us the opportunity to hold this ceremony today.
We also want to thank the leaders of Troop 260 including:
Dan Forgie
Ralph Frederick

Jeff Roemer

Toni Cranfield 

Gary Sisley

We also wanna say thank you very much to the Scouts from 260 and our special group of veterans who are participating in this event this evening as well as all of you.
Thank you all for coming.

I started off this evening with a little bit of a joke, however the ceremony you are about to see is not a joke.  

Nations and events in history are often represented by words and symbols. 

In fact the living history that we teach the crowds this weekend is about the triumph over one of those symbols and the evil words surrounding it. 

The American flag is more than just a symbol of our country.

It is the ideas and the people that are represents.
The freedoms that we enjoy.
The people that we are.

Think about all of the history that our flag has witnessed.
In our own hometown of Milwaukee, that flag will be leading the Juneteenth parade being carried by re-enactors representing Union troops of the 29th United States Colored Troops regiment from the Civil War.
It was being flown during father Groppi's march across the viaducts to protest city discriminatory housing laws.
It’s flying behind you over this event this weekend like it has flown over so many places and events over the years. 

Think  about all of the places that it has flown. 

Recently it has flown in places like: 

Shahi Kit Valley

Fallujah

Kandahar

For another generation it flew over places with names like:: 

Fort Amador 

Mogadishu 

Kuwait City 

St. George’s

For my family the flag flew over: 

Da Nang

Khe sahn

Sukchon-Sunchon

Nisan-ni

Bruyes 

PO Valley

It was carried by the grandfather of our reenactment unit captain from the time he hit the beach at Normandy on June 7 all the way through to Berlin in WWII. Then through Korea, Vietnam, and Panama, and now flies over our campsite here at this event.

The American flag has flown over places with famous names like: 

Bastogne

Iwo Jima

Anzio

Bella wood

Gettysburg 

Yorktown

And some not so famous names like:

Minidoka

Tule Lake

Hart Mountain

In all that time it has draped the coffins of every man and woman that has paid the ultimate sacrifice to defend this country and its people, including the 22 veterans a day that are currently becoming casualties of their wars,
only whose graves are located on the side of the ocean.

When you have a symbol that has seen so much and been sacrificed for by so many, you don’t get rid of it at the end of its life by simply throwing it away. 

In the ceremony that you were about to see, the flag is retired in a way befitting of it. 

It is a simple, dignified ceremony 

During the ceremony
you will hear the words of the flag as it speaks to you telling you what it sees. 

As you hear these powerful words I challenge you to three things: 

Number one:
I challenge you to not get welling of pride and patriotism for being part of this country. Maybe you get a lump in your throat or your heart bats a little louder.

Number two:

I challenge you to not develop a deeper appreciation of the sacrifices and duties that the veterans here at this event and everywhere have done to keep our country free.

Number three:
I challenge you to not get a tear in your eye thinking of a family member, loved one, or a friend that made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of this country

I will wager that everyone here tonight will fail on at least one of those challenges. I personally will fail on all three. And I am proud to admit so. 

After the main flag is fully retired, whomever in the audience that would like to dedicate a flag to be retired can do so. 

At this time to get the ceremony started, I’d like to turn things over to our Eagle scout candidate:  

Hiro Kamikawa 

Speech given by Everet Kamikawa before Hiro Kamikawa's Eagle Scout Project 

of American Flag retirement ceremony on June 18, 2023,
at WWII Days at Old Falls Village in Menomonee Falls, WI.