Category Logo

CORRYTON SENIOR CENTER, RURAL/METRO FIRE DEPARTMENT HOST FLAG DAY CELEBRATION TO HONOR VETERANS

June 13, 2013

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 13, 2013

For more information, contact:
Amanda Shell
Moxley Carmichael
865-255-0661
[email protected]

Michael Grider
Knox County
865-368-8631
[email protected]

[title]

The Knox County Corryton Senior Center and Rural/Metro Fire Station 33, co-located on Davis Drive, will host a Flag Day ceremony and barbeque luncheon to honor veterans and to ceremonially retire American flags at the senior center on June 14 at 11 a.m.

Knox County Tim Burchett will preside over the ceremony also sponsored by local Boy Scout Troup #500, Knox County Veteran’s Affairs and Rolling Thunder Charities.

“There are many veterans in Knox County who fought for our country in conflicts across the decades from World War II and Korea to Vietnam and the Gulf War,” said Mayor Tim Burchett. “Through this Flag Day celebration, we want to honor those individuals who served in the armed forces and celebrate the symbol of our great country, the American flag.”

Rural/Metro Fire Department will unfurl a large American flag from a ladder truck in honor of the occasion, and attendees will be led in the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag and the National Anthem.

“The purpose of our celebration is to celebrate our freedom and honor those who fought for that privilege,” said Rural/Metro Fire Chief Jerry Harnish. “We are grateful to our servicemen and women both past and present who uphold the American ideals of freedom and democracy represented by the American flag.”

Local Boy Scouts will be holding a ceremony to formally and appropriately retire American flags. The Corryton Senior Center is currently accepting any flags from businesses and residential homes for ceremonial retirement.

Rolling Thunder Charities, a nonprofit group traditionally made of veterans and motorcyclists dedicated to raising awareness for soldiers missing in action and prisoners of war, will donate a POW/MIA flag to the center and raise the flag in remembrance of those who are lost.

Rolling Thunder recently completed its Memorial Day motorcycle rally in Washington, D.C., in which 900,000 motorcyclists and spectators participate to raise awareness for MIA soldiers and POWs. Representatives of Rolling Thunder will ride motorcycles at the ceremony at the Corryton Senior Center.

A barbeque lunch will be held after the ceremony that is free and open to the public. Guests are encouraged to bring side dishes to share. All Occasions Party Rentals and All Convention Expo Services are sponsors of the event.

Flag Day commemorates the signing of the resolution to adopt the current design of the American flag by the Continental Congress on June 14, 1777. The national observance was approved by President Harry S. Truman in 1949. Unofficial observance of the holiday, however, can be traced back to the mid to late 1800s.

Rural/Metro of Tennessee is the largest emergency service provider in East Tennessee, with a combined work force of more than 800 firefighters, paramedics, EMTs, telecommunicators and other support personnel. Rural/Metro Ambulance Service is accredited by the Commission for Accreditation of Ambulance Services (CAAS) with contracts for 911 service in Knox, Blount, Loudon, Franklin and Polk counties.