EXETER, R.I. (AP) — The Rhode Island Veterans Memorial Cemetery has implemented new policies to ensure flags are handled properly after tattered American flags were found strewn among a pile of trash.
Stan Snyzyk posted photographs on Facebook in June of discarded flags at the Exeter cemetery. The post was shared thousands of times.
U.S. code stipulates that flags unfit for display should be disposed of in a dignified manner, preferably by burning.
Veterans Affairs director Kasim Yarn previously said his staff didn’t follow protocol by tossing the flags into a pile on the ground.
Yarn tells WPRI-TV he now performs weekly inspections. The cemetery has new procedures for flag intake and storage. Someone signs for each flag that’s handed off in the organization.
