Children in K-8th grades sat quietly in the still, bright morning as the smoke from a burning American flag billowed into the sky above the Somerville Elementary School. Fourth and 5th grade teacher Sue Barker thanked the children for being respectful during a flag ceremony at the school on Nov. 9.
Staff Sergeant Christopher Armstrong and Master Chief Petty Officer Ruel Ellis presented the American flags, which were worn and deemed unserviceable, and read the ceremonial declaration aloud for the children and school staff.
“A flag may be a flimsy bit of printed gauze, or a beautiful banner of finest silk,” Armstrong said. “Its intrinsic value may be trifling or great; but its real value is beyond price, for it is a precious symbol of all that we and our comrades have worked for and lived for and died for – a free nation of free men and women, true to the faith or the past, devoted to the ideals and practice of justice, freedom, and democracy.”
On his trumpet, student Phoenix Throckmorton belted out, “Stars and Stripes” as officers stood at attention with hands raised in salute.
The ceremony lasted just a few minutes, but the officers said it included the essential message, and the students got it. They put out the flag each morning and fold it up in the correct fashion each afternoon.
“The stars have to be showing,” students said, getting ready to go back to their lessons.
Barker motioned to the flag still on the pole in front of the school, which was sailing at half-mast, recognizing the soldiers killed in Texas recently. She pointed to an empty chair nearest the burning flag, symbolizing all those who could not be present at the ceremony.
The teacher told students they need to dispose of a flag respectfully. She talked about the treatment of the American flag and how it is the symbol the flag represents which they protect.
“I hope you remember what we did today,” Barker said.
