Local Eagle Scout honors veterans with flag retirement box

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - What started as an idea to honor his grandfather who served in the U.S. Navy has turned into a collection of of over 300 honorably retired flags.

Aiden Volk and his dad Jason created a flag retirement box as a part of Aiden’s Eagle Scout project. From start to finish, the box took two and a half months to complete. To Jason, the box has as special meaning.

“I’m a veteran myself, so I just knew what the flag represented to me and all veterans, especially the ones who didn’t make it home,” said Volk.

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The father and son have retired flags from as far away as New York City.

“It’s been an honor to get all these flags, especially from the Statue of Liberty,” said Aiden Volk.

The flags from the Statue of Liberty are approximately 15 by 25 feet, with each star about the size of your hand. Regardless of its origin, Jason says each flag should be honorably retired.

Once someone leaves a flag at the box, Aiden and his father pick it up, fold it in a 13-step tradition and take it to Boy Scout Troop 1138 to officially retire it.

Aiden and his dad don’t plan to stop any time soon. They say the flag retirement box is a life commitment that will be ed down to Aiden’s children one day. Community can use Aiden’s box to retire their own flags. It is located at the Veteran’s Way Memorial in Blue Springs.

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