For the past 75 years, we have celebrated June 14th as Flag Day, where our nation adopted the iconic stars and stripes. Over at the Richard I. Bong Museum, the American Legion Post 435, invited everyone to their celebration.

The Voyageur Boy Scouts from Poplar, Scouts BSA Troop 221 and the Cathedral School Girl Scouts, performed flag folding. Matthew Youngberg and Keith Turner, Life Scouts with Troop 221 say the holiday is significant to our nation’s identity.

“I think flag day should be treated as Veterans Day or Memorial Day. Those have parades. A lot more people celebrate them. We should also celebrate flag day as we celebrate those,” Youngberg said. “People always talk about respecting the flag. But they don’t always know exactly what it means and how to properly respect it,” Turner added.

Youngberg and Turner said teaching younger scouts how to properly fold the American flag helps instill a sense of respect. When it comes to retiring the American flag there is a special ceremony Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts perform. Each stripe is cut into several pieces and then the stars are burned in a fire, until only ashes remain.

“It’s an honor to teach them and also what it means, because it’s not just folding a flag to put it away. You’re teaching them what each fold means,” Youngberg said. “It can take a lot of time, so having a face-to-face interaction of teaching somebody how to do it can mean a lot,” Turner said.

Scouts BSA, Girl Scouts and the American Legion are some of the few organizations permitted to retire American flags no longer in use. Also for other stories happening at the Bong museum you can read more here.