'It deserves respect': McKay Bay plant workers honored for properly burning unserviceable American flags

TAMPA, Fla. - The American Legion Post 139 in Tampa honored workers at McKay Bay Waste-to-Energy Plant for helping properly and honorably burning more than 1,000 unserviceable flags in February. 

The American flag means everything to Raymond J Millaway, a veteran who served 22 years in the Army and is now the historian for the American Legion Post 139. 

"It is American flag, it deserves respect," Millaway said.

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The unserviceable flags that were burned had been collected for over two years during the pandemic by Post 139, without a chance to be properly disposed of. 

According to US flag code: "The Flag, when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning."

All the flags had the metal grommets removed, were folded correctly and were incinerated separate from other debris at the plant at more than 22,000 degrees. 

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"I’m extremely proud to be an American, I’m proud of the flag, and we need to treat it properly with respect, the way the flag deserves," said Chuck Conklin, a veteran and director at the McKay Bay Waste to Energy Plant. 

Shift Supervisor and Navy veteran Walt Townsend said the ceremony reminded him of his fellow service members. 

"All those that served before me and gave the ultimate sacrifice is what that flag stands for," he said.