Retiring the Colors

October 1, 2020

The sun broke through the clouds of an otherwise overcast day on October 1, just as members of Ohio Valley Marine Corps League Detachment No. 882 visited Mt. Assisi Place to retire the colors, a ceremony by which an aging or damaged American flag is honorably and ceremoniously taken down and — as happened here — replaced with a new one. Several residents — including Marine veteran John Markovich and Army veteran Emil Parent — gathered outside to watch the ceremony. A Marine bugler played Taps as the old flag, tattered and torn from years of whipping in the wind above our main entrance, was lowered and carefully folded. Our new flag can be seen from surrounding streets and nearby I-279. The retired flag will be properly disposed of by a local Boy Scout troop.