Saint Charles County veterans respectfully collect American flags used for retirement

street. CHARLES COUNTY, Missouri — Military veterans working for the St. Charles County government spent Wednesday collecting used or damaged American flags.

The Veterans Best Practices Working Group held a car collection event at the corner of Monroe Street and North Second Street.

“We’ll collect them, then take them to AMVETS in St. Peters. In September, they do the actual flag retirement ceremony,” said Dennis Weiss, St. Charles County Airport Manager.

The group said it was a way to respect and honor the flag, rather than tossing it in the trash.

“They have a color guard, they play Taps, they have a 21-gun salute. And then they retire the flags by burning them and then the ashes are buried in a plot at AMVETS,” Wes said.

The group has collected more than 9,500 flags since its inception in 2017.

Weiss said they’ve collected more than 300 flags so far this year. This means that they have reached their goal of collecting more than 10,000 flags since they started six years ago.

Army veteran Stacy Rafferty worked as a public health educator in St. Charles County for six months. When Rafferty first started, she was told about the group’s efforts to dispose of flags respectfully.

“I’m glad they’re doing something appropriate with them. I really hate to see a flag disrespected in any way — for people to just throw it away,” she said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s a cloth flag, a giant flag, or a small flag; It should not be put in the trash.”

You can still drop your flags at the flag collection boxes outside the St. Charles County Sheriff’s Office and at Veterans Tribute Park.