Every Veterans Day, Boy Scouts from Troop 362 wake up early and place American flags up and down Main Street in El Cajon. Itโs a show of patriotism that the kids and parents take pride in.
This year more than a dozen of those flags were vandalized, snapped off at the base, and left in the busy street to be run over by passing cars. On Saturday morning, just eight days after the incident (for which a suspect was arrested and charged with felony vandalism), Troop 362 set out to right the wrong.
They purchased new poles, then stained them and attached the Stars and Stripes to the top, making the 12-foot-long posts as good as new.
โThese flags were kicked down and itโs our job to repair them,โ said Oliver Conklin from Boy Scout Troop 362 in El Cajon.
They made several more poles, as well, just to be ready in case something like this happens again in the future.
โItโs part of our commitment to the community of El Cajon to display these flags on all the national patriotic holidays,โ said Laurence Ashbacher, one of Troop 362โs scout leaders.
But for the scouts of Troop 362 replacing these flags goes a lot deeper than simply community commitment.
โI think itโs a disgrace to defile anything with an American flag on it, even though technically itโs freedom of expression,โ said Conklin. โItโs legal but weโre part of the cleanup crew. It gives me massive pride to be able to repair these flags with my fellow scouts.โ
The new flags will be out on Main Street once again this Thanksgiving.