NORTH LOGAN – For Calvin Jensen, a volunteer at the Rocky Mountain Veterans Center, the American Flag is a special thing. He is a patriot and served the United States as a soldier in many capacities. The Rocky Mountain Veterans Center is in the Dan Gyllenskog Veteran Resource Center located at 1760 N. 200 E. Unit 100, North Logan.
When Jensen first began his volunteer service at the veteran’s center in January there were over a thousand flags waiting to be retired.
Calvin Jensen demonstrates the proper folding of the flag with a bandmember. All flags are properly folded prior to retirement.
“I was overwhelmed by the number of flags that needed to be taken care of. No one seemed to be interested in doing it,” he said. “I thought to myself I would love to retire those flags in ceremonies that people could experience.”
He said if it’s a flag and it gets worn at all, it needs to be retired in a respectful way and it is a privilege anyone can do.
“The big reason I wanted to retire the flags is because I believe in this country, I believe we have the best country in the world,” Jensen said. “The American Flag represents our country and when it gets worn out it should be respectfully taken care of.”
The retired National Guard Colonel looked up the code on the internet and found what steps were needed to respectfully put a flag to rest. He came up with a program and began his quest.
“According to the code, the retirement needs to be done respectfully. It needs to be properly folded to be cremated with the posting of the colors and repeating the Pledge of Allegiance. When I do it, I talk about the flag and what it means to America what happened in Milan, Italy after WWII.”
“The first one I did was in front of my grandson and his girlfriend in my garage,” he said. “I let them know how proud I was to be an American and serve the country. I wanted to honor the flag and what it represents.”
Jensen told them the flag stands for justice, fairness and honesty. As they go through the Pledge of Allegiance he stops and stresses what the pledge represents, especially in this political environment.
During the ceremony, prior to folding, the pledge is recited. Servicemembers and veterans salute, and others show their respect by placing their right hand over their heart.
“We need to remember how blessed we are and why so many people want to come to America,” he said. “The flag represents freedom and the lives lost to give us that freedom.”
Since he started his mission to retire the flags he has done over 1,000 ceremonies. The flags keep being brought into the RMVC, so the number keeps growing.
“Yes, I do a lot of them. I’ve had to put them on hold because of the fire restrictions; I can only do them in certain areas,” Jensen said. “I did one for the drumline at Green Canyon High School recently in my back yard.”
Jensen has held flag retirement ceremonies for church and school groups. He stressed that he is not the only one who can retire a flag, anyone can do it. They just need to know how.
“I did a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1968,” he said. “When I got off of my mission it was during the Viet Nam War and I needed to join up. I joined the National Guard. I stayed in the National Guard and Reserves for 37 years.”
He became a commissioned officer and retired as a colonel.
“I worked at the pentagon for six years, four of those years I worked in counter terrorism,” he said.” I had to report to government leaders and leaders of the pentagon about world-wide terrorist activity. It was a scary job.”
Jensen also spent 30 years teaching and coaching at Sky View High School. He coached swimming and diving.
Terry Messmer RMVC Chief of Administrative Services said Jensen is the consummate example of the citizen-soldier.
“He continues to serve his community and country as a volunteer at the RMVC helping other veterans and their families,” Messmer said. “He developed and implemented the concept of engaging local communities in retirement ceremonies as a way to foster a passion of patriotism while addressing an immediate need.”
The RMVC receives over 1,000 flags a year to retire because they serve as a repository for those who wish to have their flag retired. Flags to retire come from individuals, businesses, and local schools and governments.
An unidentified member of the Green Canyon Marching band renders a final salute to retired flags which have been placed on an open fire for incineration.
“We still have over 500 flags to retire. However, because of the drought conditions, Calvin has delayed future retirement ceremonies until conditions improve this fall,” Messmer said. “As Calvin goes through the flags brought in for retirement, we often find flags worthy of adoption. This happens when organizations, like Cache County rotate flags on a regular basis. We sort those out and give them out as folks come in.”
Those wanting a flag should stop by the RNVC to see if they have one that is available.