Flag retirement ceremony follows the parade
More than 170 veterans attended Marine Military Academy’s Veterans Day Parade on Nov. 11. Just as impressive was the number of people – people of all ages – who turned out for the event to pay homage to its nation’s heroes.
At the parade, veterans from World War II and the Korean War received special seating directly in front of the historic Iwo Jima Monument. During the parade’s pass in review, all veterans were asked to join superintendent Col R. Glenn Hill and reviewing officer GEN Robert Walter Jr. on the parade grounds to be honored by the MMA Corps of Cadets. Several of the them were assisted onto the field by MMA cadets.
In addition to the recognition, all of the heroes received a special gift at the parade: an embroidered star from a retired U. S. flag.
After the parade, Boy Scouts Troop 22 held a retirement ceremony for approximately 30 tattered and/or faded U. S. flags behind the Iwo Jima Monument.
More than 100 parade-goers attended the ceremony. Everyone present was asked to take a strip of a U. S. flag and place it in one of two burning barrels. Because the flag retirement ceremony followed MMA’s Veterans Day Parade, more than 50 veterans participated in this proud, touching event.
