Following Sept. 11, the American flag was everywhere in Hoboken. Patriotic pride gushed from the mile-square city’s residents as they hung the Stars and Stripes from their front stoops, cars, out of their windows, or any other place a flag could be hung.
But now, as months have passed and rain and bad weather have come and gone, many of these symbols of national pride are torn, tattered and worn.
Anthony Mignoli, 16, a 10th grader at the Hoboken Charter School and a Boy Scout in troop 146, is currently pursuing the scouts’ highest rank of Eagle Scout. To achieve that rank he must perform a large-scale act of community service.
He has chosen to organize a citywide flag drive to collect many of these torn and worn flags and destroy them in a dutiful ceremony. Anyone with a flag that is no longer serviceable can drop it off at City Hall in the Office of Constituent Affairs, at any of the city’s post offices, the Hoboken Police Department, or at any of the city’s four fire stations.
“In light of 9/11, I believe that collecting and disposing of these flags [will] be a great service to my community,” said Mignoli Wednesday. “It’s important because there are a lot of very patriotic people out there that don’t know how to properly dispose of their flags after months of being exposed to the elements.”
According to the American Legion, the accepted authority on flag maintenance and care, the proper way to dispose of a flag is to burn it on or near national Flag Day, which is held annually on June 14.
The significance of that date is that on June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress passed a resolution adopting the Stars and Stripes as the nation’s official flag. In celebration and reverence, on Saturday June 15, Mignoli along with several local veterans’ groups, will be holding a ceremony to burn the flag. The ceremony will take place at Pier A park, at a time still to be decided. Uniformed firefighters, police officers and veterans will attend the ceremony, where the flags will be burned in 50-gallon drums. Before the flags are destroyed, a chaplain will say a prayer. While they burn, a color guard will play taps.
“It’s really the patriotic thing to do,” said Mignoli. “It’s a shame that there are so many flags that just get thrown out in the garbage. Hopefully I can do my part to raise awareness and teach people the proper manner to care for their flags.”
Mignoli has been in the scouts for five years. He said that it has been a resoundingly positive experience in his life. “I think one of the best aspects is that now I get to mentor [younger scouts], and hopefully I can be a positive influence,” he said. “Just like when I was younger, some of the older scouts helped bring me through the program.”
Mignoli said that he would also like to thank the people who have helped him organize the flag drive: Jack O’Brien, the chairman of the Hoboken Joint Memorial Committee, Tom Kennedy, the commander of American Legion Post 107, Thomas Corrado, a supervisor at the Hoboken Post Office, Police Chief Carmen LaBruno, Fire Chief John Cassesa, and Mayor David Roberts.