thedrifter
10-02-08, 08:26 AM
Local Marines hold flag retirement ceremony
By Joseph Cress, Sentinel Reporter, October 1, 2008
Last updated: Wednesday, October 1, 2008 9:48 AM EDT
No matter how the flag unfurls, it should come down to respect.
However, retired Army Col. George Shevlin has seen a lack of reverence for Old Glory in recent years.
Younger people talk among themselves at sporting events -- neglecting to take off their hats or hold their hand over their heart during the Pledge of Allegiance or the singing of the National Anthem.
“They don’t realize a lot of people have gone into battle and some have lost their lives for the flag,” said Shevlin, 70, who served 26 years in the military, including two tours of combat duty in Vietnam.
The trend is why the Carlisle man thinks it is so important for the public to attend a proper flag retirement ceremony at 9:30 a.m. Saturday at Thornwald Park in the borough. The event will be held rain or shine.
Shevlin will be guest speaker at the event, which is being hosted by the Lewis Puller Jr. Detachment 524 of the Marine Corps League. He will address the meaning of the U.S. flag and the significance of the ceremony, which is meant to dispose of unserviceable flags in a dignified way in compliance with federal law.
Dozens of faded, torn, discolored and tattered flags will be burned in a special container while the Cumberland County Honor Guard provides a rifle salute and the playing of taps.
‘Our country’
“It is the correct way, the patriotic way to show respect for the flag and what it signifies,” said Jim Grove, a league member. “This is our country, that flag represents the United States.”
Shevlin has received many awards and decorations, including a Silver Star, two Bronze Stars and the Legion of Merit. He was a Green Beret in 1962-64 and served most of his career in airborne infantry with both 82nd and 101st divisions and two years with the British Parachute Regiment.
A 1978 graduate of the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, the colonel retired in 1986 as the garrison commander of Carlisle Barracks. He then went on to serve 16 years in Pennsylvania state government under the Casey and Ridge administrations -- his last job as deputy secretary of education.
Shevlin is a member of Pennsylvania Task Force One, an urban search and rescue team which had been deployed twice following Hurricane Katrina and more recently in response to Hurricanes Gustav, Hannah and Ike.
Ellie
By Joseph Cress, Sentinel Reporter, October 1, 2008
Last updated: Wednesday, October 1, 2008 9:48 AM EDT
No matter how the flag unfurls, it should come down to respect.
However, retired Army Col. George Shevlin has seen a lack of reverence for Old Glory in recent years.
Younger people talk among themselves at sporting events -- neglecting to take off their hats or hold their hand over their heart during the Pledge of Allegiance or the singing of the National Anthem.
“They don’t realize a lot of people have gone into battle and some have lost their lives for the flag,” said Shevlin, 70, who served 26 years in the military, including two tours of combat duty in Vietnam.
The trend is why the Carlisle man thinks it is so important for the public to attend a proper flag retirement ceremony at 9:30 a.m. Saturday at Thornwald Park in the borough. The event will be held rain or shine.
Shevlin will be guest speaker at the event, which is being hosted by the Lewis Puller Jr. Detachment 524 of the Marine Corps League. He will address the meaning of the U.S. flag and the significance of the ceremony, which is meant to dispose of unserviceable flags in a dignified way in compliance with federal law.
Dozens of faded, torn, discolored and tattered flags will be burned in a special container while the Cumberland County Honor Guard provides a rifle salute and the playing of taps.
‘Our country’
“It is the correct way, the patriotic way to show respect for the flag and what it signifies,” said Jim Grove, a league member. “This is our country, that flag represents the United States.”
Shevlin has received many awards and decorations, including a Silver Star, two Bronze Stars and the Legion of Merit. He was a Green Beret in 1962-64 and served most of his career in airborne infantry with both 82nd and 101st divisions and two years with the British Parachute Regiment.
A 1978 graduate of the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, the colonel retired in 1986 as the garrison commander of Carlisle Barracks. He then went on to serve 16 years in Pennsylvania state government under the Casey and Ridge administrations -- his last job as deputy secretary of education.
Shevlin is a member of Pennsylvania Task Force One, an urban search and rescue team which had been deployed twice following Hurricane Katrina and more recently in response to Hurricanes Gustav, Hannah and Ike.
Ellie