A Flag Retirement Ceremony

Karen and I recently attended a flag retirement ceremony sponsored by Boy Scout Troop 999 in Provo, Utah. A large number of old and tattered American flags were properly retired by burning.

These three U.S. Marines spoke at the ceremony.

A large crowd gathered to watch this impressive ceremony.

Scouts demonstrate the correct way to fold the American flag. Each fold has a specific meaning. This was explained by the Senior Patrol Leader as the flag was folded.

The pyre is ignited.

Scouts respectfully placed the old flags on the pyre.

The ceremony is about to conclude.

The Standard of Truth

In 1842, the Prophet Joseph Smith wrote:

"The standard of truth has been erected: no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing. Persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the great Jehovah shall say the work is done."

(letter to John Wentworth dated 1 March 1842)

A Favorite Quote

Karl G. Maeser once made a statement about how chalk circles can be used to demonstrate the importance of keeping commitments. He said:

"I have been asked what I mean by my word of honor. I will tell you. Place me behind prison walls - ever so high, ever so thick, reaching ever so far into the ground - there is a possibility that in some way or another I will escape; but stand me on a floor and draw a chalk line around me and have me give my word of honor never to cross it. Can I get out of the circle? No. Never! I would die first!" [In Alma P. Burton, Karl G. Maeser: Mormon Educator (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1953, p. 71]

More Photos from Beaverton

Andrew reciting the Gettysburg Address at a Court of Honor. He received a prize for reciting it correctly.

Pete drinking his blue milk

Nate and Grandpa