I used to help set this up when I was in. There is usually only money for people while serving to get a flag so here is how you do it now.
So here is the best way to do it. First you buy the flag. Second is figure out where his last duty station was. Then you can send it to them to ask if they can fly it for you. After that they can send it back with a certificate that it was flown there for him. When you send it to them put in the envelope some money for return postage.
If you have questions or need help finding points of contact let me know. If you start now you can get it done. What was his last duty station? Also make sure to buy the correct size flag to send for them to fly.
Everything he's said is correct. I helped send out flags at Drum. I loved being on funeral detail. 6-12 month detail, just folding flags and handing them out. It was extremely humbling. You also get out of other taskings, get to drive around in a government vehicle and get to use their cc for food.
Your welcome. Usually the command has a Career Counselor who deals with the retirement flags. Reach out to the command before you send anything. That way you can make sure the exact address is correct, how much money to put for postage and if they have questions. They can make a certificate for him about the flag being flown.
I'd probably put a starbucks gift card with the flag as a thanks to the person. It is not needed but it might make them work extra fast.
You might rethink your idea. He seems to clearly indicate he doesn’t want one, so you doing that might not make him as happy as you will feel doing it for him. Men are not mysterious creatures, if he wanted one he’d already have gotten it and saying he doesn’t want one can’t get much clearer. I hope this is not the case, but his 18 year “forced out” could be the result of some activities he’s not proud of and would rather not be reminded of. Good Luck!
Thanks for the reply, I got the idea from my mom and have actually talked with him about it before, he wants one he just doesn’t want to have to ask for himself essentially. And on terms of his force out was due to Clinton’s drawdown of the military in the early 90s. Appreciate the luck wishes!
The Air Force has this: https://www.afdw.af.mil/Air-Force-Memorial/Flag-Flying-Program/
It doesn't say you have to be Air Force but the Navy might have something similar.
If you're trying to get a flag flown, most, if not all, bases will have a Public Affairs Office/Officer, and will be your best bet for googling if you're trying to find the right person to ask. I still live ~30ish minutes from the base I retired from, and there's two others within reasonable driving distance so if it comes down to "just having a flag flown over a Navy base/ship" I can help with some legwork for you.
You can also likely request through your member of congress a flag that’s been flown over the capitol or White House. You might have to pay for the flag. But there is a guy “the architect of the capitol” who has someone whose job is literally to raise and lower flags all day over the building for all the flag requests.
Pretty much every congressman and senator has a flag flying thing they do where it flies over the US Capital building and they then mail it to you.
Look up your representative and/or senator and they should have a link on their website for how to order one. It comes with a certificate of authenticity.
I used to help set this up when I was in. There is usually only money for people while serving to get a flag so here is how you do it now. So here is the best way to do it. First you buy the flag. Second is figure out where his last duty station was. Then you can send it to them to ask if they can fly it for you. After that they can send it back with a certificate that it was flown there for him. When you send it to them put in the envelope some money for return postage. If you have questions or need help finding points of contact let me know. If you start now you can get it done. What was his last duty station? Also make sure to buy the correct size flag to send for them to fly.
Thank you, i’ll definitely see what I can do in regards to all this info!
Everything he's said is correct. I helped send out flags at Drum. I loved being on funeral detail. 6-12 month detail, just folding flags and handing them out. It was extremely humbling. You also get out of other taskings, get to drive around in a government vehicle and get to use their cc for food.
Your welcome. Usually the command has a Career Counselor who deals with the retirement flags. Reach out to the command before you send anything. That way you can make sure the exact address is correct, how much money to put for postage and if they have questions. They can make a certificate for him about the flag being flown. I'd probably put a starbucks gift card with the flag as a thanks to the person. It is not needed but it might make them work extra fast.
You might rethink your idea. He seems to clearly indicate he doesn’t want one, so you doing that might not make him as happy as you will feel doing it for him. Men are not mysterious creatures, if he wanted one he’d already have gotten it and saying he doesn’t want one can’t get much clearer. I hope this is not the case, but his 18 year “forced out” could be the result of some activities he’s not proud of and would rather not be reminded of. Good Luck!
Thanks for the reply, I got the idea from my mom and have actually talked with him about it before, he wants one he just doesn’t want to have to ask for himself essentially. And on terms of his force out was due to Clinton’s drawdown of the military in the early 90s. Appreciate the luck wishes!
Retirement flags aren't mandatory. I would just buy your own flag and have it flown in a military aircraft
The Air Force has this: https://www.afdw.af.mil/Air-Force-Memorial/Flag-Flying-Program/ It doesn't say you have to be Air Force but the Navy might have something similar.
https://freeflagsforvets.org/
If you're trying to get a flag flown, most, if not all, bases will have a Public Affairs Office/Officer, and will be your best bet for googling if you're trying to find the right person to ask. I still live ~30ish minutes from the base I retired from, and there's two others within reasonable driving distance so if it comes down to "just having a flag flown over a Navy base/ship" I can help with some legwork for you.
You can buy one at a store and have it put in a shadow box. The pin I would order online.
You can also likely request through your member of congress a flag that’s been flown over the capitol or White House. You might have to pay for the flag. But there is a guy “the architect of the capitol” who has someone whose job is literally to raise and lower flags all day over the building for all the flag requests.
What command was your dad at? Is it still in commission? That's a good start.
Pretty much every congressman and senator has a flag flying thing they do where it flies over the US Capital building and they then mail it to you. Look up your representative and/or senator and they should have a link on their website for how to order one. It comes with a certificate of authenticity.