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Old Glory is entitled to a respectful retirement when she gets tattered or torn, and Boy Scout Leo Starbuck is trying to make sure each worn-out flag receives a proper send-off.

As his Eagle Scout project, Starbuck placed boxes across town last week for flags that need to be retired. As his troop collects the flags, it will retire them properly. That involves unfurling them over a fire, burning them and then burying the ashes.

"The main thing is if it has tears or something any place on it and it's really old and it's been flown for a really long time, it should be retired," Starbuck said.

He's scheduled the project to coincide with Memorial Day weekend, partly because he had to complete it before his 18th birthday, which is today. Starbuck is working with the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion.

The boxes are at both Steamboat Springs post offices and at Bud Werner Memorial Library. The library box is up the stairs immediately to the left at the Yampa River entrance.

Jim Stanko, a veteran and American Legion member, said proper flag retirement was crucial. The legion and other groups have spent years pushing for a constitutional amendment requiring respect for the flag, Stanko said.

"During the Vietnam era, they were always burning flags and stomping on flags and stuff, and to us, that's kind of an insult," he said, "because there's been a lot of men and women laid their lives down for that flag."

People also can turn in old flags to the Boy Scouts and the VFW, Starbuck said. Library Director Chris Painter said she was honored to support the project.

"It's really about being a part of the community and helping out and being connected," Painter said.

The library also offers more flexibility to people who don't have time to drop off a flag during post office hours.

"I think the library is very much a hub, a center of the community," Painter said. "It's open seven days a week, and unlike many other places that may only be open during weekday hours, we are open on weekends and in evenings."

The Boy Scouts try to collect flags all year, but it's challenging when people aren't aware that their flag needs to be retired, Starbuck said. The depository boxes include instructions on how to fold and package flags so they don't get more tattered, he said.

When Stanko thinks about what the Stars and Stripes means to him, he said, he thinks about Johnny Cash's song "Ragged Old Flag."

Those lyrics say, "She's getting threadbare, and she's wearin' thin,/ But she's in good shape, for the shape she's in./ Cause she's been through the fire before/ and I believe she can take a whole lot more."

Veterans stood up and fought for what the flag represents, Stanko said.

"That flag's been through a lot, and it stood for just about every freedom, everything that we've done," he said. "And it's important to us, because all of us put on a uniform to defend that, and we made sacrifices in our personal lives to make sure that flag keeps flying."

- To reach Blythe Terrell, call 871-4234

or e-mail bterrell@steamboatpilot.com