Local Scout retiring flags with honor

MUSCLE SHOALS - Charles Logan has fond childhood memories of stopping by the local National Guard armory when his father, Charles Logan Sr., was in the unit.

The 17-year-old also has a fondness for the American flag that military members - including a long list of veterans in his family - have served under throughout our nation's history.

"I've just always liked the flag," he said. "Going to the armory when Dad was in it gave me even more interest."

So when the Sheffield High School student searched for a project to earn his Eagle Scout badge with the Boy Scouts, it seemed natural for him to choose something that expresses his patriotism.

He is in the process of doing just that with a project that will culminate in a Veterans Day ceremony Nov. 11. Logan is collecting tattered and old flags and will dispose of them honorably, with assistance from the Sheffield Veterans of Foreign Wars.

He will burn the flags, place their ashes in a small coffin and bury them in the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on North Montgomery Avenue in Sheffield.

Anyone who has a flag in need of retiring can call Logan at 446-9842. He will come to your house and pick up the flag.

"I've handed out fliers with my number on them," he said. "Just contact me and I'll take it from there."

He left fliers at Sheffield and Muscle Shoals schools as well as local banks and churches.

Logan belongs to Troop 7010 in Muscle Shoals, where about 50 of the flags are stored at the troop's headquarters at First United Methodist Church in Muscle Shoals.

"There are two or three times more flags at the VFW post," he said.

He has been with the scouts program for 12 years, starting as a Cub Scout with Troop 84 in Sheffield.

He participated in the daily raising and lowering of the flag at Sheffield Junior High School during the 2006-07 school year.

The flag burial will be at 9 a.m. Veterans Day, Nov. 11, and the public is invited, Logan said.

For a $5 donation, you can fill out a card in memory of a deceased veteran or current member of the military. The card will be placed in the coffin with the flags, he said.

The money will help offset costs of materials, such as lumber and nails for the coffin, and the setting of the foot marker.

If there is an overage of donations, it will go toward flowers or flags at the Sheffield site during Flag Days until the money is exhausted, Logan said.

An account for the memory-card donations has been set up at all First Metro Banks, Alabama Central Credit Unions and Bank Independents. Memory cards also are at the banks.

Bernie Delinski can be reached at 740-5739 or bernie.delinski@TimesDaily.com.