Retiring Our Flags With Honor at Hendersonville Memory Gardens
The American flag means a lot to us at U.S. Pest. It flies above our billboards around Nashville and on the trucks our technicians drive across Middle Tennessee every day. After months of Tennessee sun, wind, and rain, those flags wear out, and a worn flag deserves a proper flag retirement.
This summer, U.S. Pest President & CEO Erica Brister and Chief Operating Officer J.K. Brister brought the worn flags from our billboards and trucks to Hendersonville Memory Gardens, Funeral Home & Cremation Center to be retired through its flag retirement program. It turned into a lesson in just how much meaning one flag can carry.
How flag retirement works at Hendersonville Memory Gardens
Through its Retire Your Flag program, Hendersonville Memory Gardens collects American flags that have become worn, faded, or torn. The flags it receives are draped over departed veterans at the time of cremation, so each one is laid to rest with the same reverence and dignity shown to those who served our country. The funeral home offers the service free of charge, to honor both the flag and everyone who has served in any capacity.
Lindsey Stuffle, general manager and funeral director at Hendersonville Memory Gardens, welcomed us and explained what the program means to veterans’ families. Many families never expected their loved one would be honored this way, and hearing about it firsthand made the day even more meaningful for us.
As we shared afterward:
It was a pleasure speaking with them about what they do and what it means to the families of the veterans. The flag means so much to us here at U.S. Pest, and we are proud to be part of such an amazing program.
A short history of the Stars and Stripes
The flag we know today started with a single sentence. On June 14, 1777, the Second Continental Congress passed the Flag Resolution, calling for thirteen alternating red and white stripes and thirteen white stars on a blue field, “representing a new constellation” (National Flag Foundation). The resolution didn’t say how to arrange the stars or how many points they should have, so early flagmakers improvised, placing stars in rows, in circles, or scattered like a night sky (National Flag Foundation).
As the country grew, so did the flag. When Kentucky and Vermont joined the Union, the flag briefly had 15 stars and 15 stripes, until it became clear that adding a stripe for every state wouldn’t work and the stripes went back to 13 (U.S. Government Publishing Office). Since independence, the flag has been revised 27 times (National Flag Foundation). The 50-star flag we fly today was raised for the first time on July 4, 1960, after Hawaii became a state (National Flag Foundation), and it has now flown longer than any other version.
The date of the 1777 resolution is why we celebrate Flag Day on June 14. President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the first national Flag Day in 1916, and Flag Day has been officially celebrated every June 14 since (U.S. Government Publishing Office).
Why veterans are laid to rest with the flag
Draping a casket with the national flag is one of the oldest military funeral customs. It began during the Napoleonic Wars of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, when a flag was used to cover the dead as they were carried from the battlefield (Defense Visual Information Distribution Service).
The tradition comes with careful rules. When the U.S. flag covers a casket, the blue field of stars is placed at the head and over the left shoulder, and the flag is never placed in the grave or allowed to touch the ground (U.S. Army Human Resources Command). At the end of the service, the honor guard folds it and presents it to the next of kin (The Memorial Day Foundation). For most veterans, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs provides the burial flag at no cost, one per veteran (U.S. Army Human Resources Command).
That’s what makes the Hendersonville Memory Gardens program so meaningful. A flag that spent its life flying over a billboard or riding on a work truck gets one final honorable duty: covering a veteran on the last part of their journey.
What the Flag Code says about worn flags
The U.S. Flag Code, the federal guidelines for displaying and caring for the flag, says that when a flag is in such condition that it’s no longer a fitting emblem for display, it should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning (National Flag Foundation). A flag can be washed or dry-cleaned to extend its life (U.S. Navy History and Heritage Command), but once it’s faded, frayed, or torn, it’s time to retire it.
Many people aren’t sure what to do with an old flag, so it sits folded in a closet or keeps flying long after it should. Programs like the one at Hendersonville Memory Gardens give those flags a dignified retirement that also honors a veteran.
Why the flag matters to us
U.S. Pest has been family-owned and based in Hendersonville since 1985, and the flag has long been part of who we are. In 2021, we put up American flag billboards with our logo around Nashville (PR Newswire), and you’ll see the flag on our trucks all over Middle Tennessee. Making sure those flags are retired the right way, in a way that honors veterans, felt like the right thing to do.
Have a worn flag to retire?
If you have an American flag that’s faded, torn, or no longer fit for display, you can donate it to Hendersonville Memory Gardens, Funeral Home & Cremation Center at 353 Johnny Cash Parkway in Hendersonville. The service is free. Visit HendersonvilleFH.com or call 615-824-3855 to learn more.
We’re grateful to Lindsey and the Hendersonville Memory Gardens team for the work they do for veterans and their families, and proud to be part of it.
U.S. Pest Protection is a family- and female-owned pest control company based in Hendersonville, Tennessee, serving Middle Tennessee since 1985. For pest control, call 615-590-1260.
