Saving Old Glory from trash | American Flags
Ed Shevlin recently retired from the New York City Sanitation Department, but not from rescuing American flags tossed in the trash.
“I noticed years ago a fairly high increase of U.S. flags in the garbage,” he said in an interview. “It really bothered me, so I began a campaign to save Old Glory. I’ve been a lifelong patriot. I had trouble processing the fact that people think it’s okay to throw a flag out. I like to think there’s a moral compass that would prevent people” from doing that.
Through his Facebook page, news coverage and word-of-mouth, Shevlin has spread the gospel of removing worn flags from the trash and overseeing their destruction according to the U.S. Flag Code, which recommends a dignified ceremony and burning.
Of course, his ideal is for flags never to make it to the garbage can in the first place. To that end, he once announced that “I’d be in a specific spot on a specific day to accept flags, and people brought 400 in two hours.”
Shevlin’s most recent pro-American flag effort involved persuading a local councilman and the U.S. Postal Service to set up a special mailbox where people could deposit their used banners.
Overall, often with the help of his girlfriend, Mary Ellen Ahr, he has rescued 800 flags of all sizes. “I was given a big garrison flag that was about 20 feet by 30 feet and tiny ones that kids wave at parades,” he said. “A local man gave me a 48-star silk flag that was presented to his father by a general.”
The garrison flag and general’s gift went into Shevlin’s personal collection of banners. He said that he considers them “my compensation for saving flags.”
Over the years, he added, he has not seen many other flags in the garbage, “except for MIA flags and Irish flags.”
As he reflects on his mission to save flags and retire them correctly, Shevlin also thinks about the American flag and its meaning. “It is not a decoration,” he emphasized. “Its job is not to be pretty. It’s a symbol of the message of our country. Every time that flag flies, it is doing a service. When it’s no longer serviceable, it must be retired.”
He hopes that everyone will “join me in saving Old Glory. Keep the flag out of the garbage!”