Hannah Belame/MDN Ron Garcia, left, and Dave Smith, right, stand at the veterans flag donation box at Walmart in Minot.

A U.S. flag retirement box has been set up at Walmart in Minot by veterans Ron Garcia and Dave Smith to accept any used flags for proper disposal.

The box has been approved by Chapter 4 of the Disabled American Veterans of Minot.

“There are already so many flags in it that have been dropped off. It’s so beautiful with the workmanship that Dave Smith put into it,” said Garcia. “We coordinated with Jeremy Homer, an employee at Walmart, to get this all put together and it came together beautifully.”

Once the flags are deposited in the box, the DAV will give them to the American Legion. The American Legion will then conduct a burning ceremony.

“They destroy the flags by burning them, then the ashes are sprinkled in the river on Memorial Day. That is the proper way to dispose of flags,” Garcia said.

“Three or four times a year, we hold a militaristic burning ceremony. The ceremonies are normally held on Memorial Day, Labor Day and Veterans Day. It’s a patriotic thing that flags are purged the way they are supposed to be. They’re not supposed to be just thrown away, they are supposed to be burned. It’s a process of getting them destroyed,” he said.

Smith is an Army veteran and Garcia is an Air Force veteran of 23 years. “My last base was here in Minot,” Garcia said.