When star-spangled banners lose their color, sustain tears and have long served as a reminder of this country’s freedom, Addison Township now has a place for them to be respectfully retired.

Caleb Paul, an 18-year-old Washington Township resident, donated an American flag disposal bin to the Addison Township Hall as part of his pursuit for Eagle Scout. Paul, a Life Scout with Troop 87 out of Romeo, wants the township to have a way to honor their flags after they’ve served their purpose well.

“The flags that I expect to see in there are the ones that are pretty tattered up or can’t be flown anymore,” he said. “The flag will always be respected, but it might not be in its glory anymore.”

Paul is awaiting his Eagle Scout confirmation from the board of review process. He has already earned 21 merit badges, served as a leader in his troop, passed the scout masters conference and donated flag disposal bins to Addison and the Romeo Parks and Recreation office as part of his community service project.

“I’ve been a scout for probably six years, and I’ve always had this dream of being one of those guys,” he said. “If you say you’re an Eagle Scout, people know you did a lot for that.”

The boxes are made of dark stained hardwood that Paul and some of his friends made themselves. He said it took about two full work days to put both boxes together.

“It was a lot of sanding and staining,” he said.

When the boxes fill up, Troop 87 will dispose of them honorably during its fall campout.

“It’s usually Saturday during our campout and we have a ceremony,” Paul said. “We’ll have a Cologuard and we’ll have a bonfire. Someone will usually read a paragraph… and it just describes the flag, (says) where it’s been, what it means. Then we have the scouts unfold it, hold it over the fire and drop the four corners in.”

Those flags live on with the Troop 87 scouts, as the grommets, or eyelets, are given to boys who display high character.

“We collect those little (grommets) from the flags and my scout master has been making little necklaces with them for leadership,” Paul said.

Because his troop takes so much care in disposing flags, Paul hopes people realize it’s OK to respect an old flag by letting it retire.

“I’m hoping that people will see it and realize that flags can be retired,” he said. “There’s a lot of things going on that don’t give as much respect to the flag as necessary and it’s a little (frustrating). But I’m hoping by seeing these boxes that they can see these flags can be retired and deserve a lot of respect.”

When he graduates from high school later this year, Paul plans to continue defending the flag here at home and wants to attend college as a criminal justice major and eventually become a police officer.

“I would like to transfer to something like Homeland Security,” he said. “But, I want to just do a few years of service and experience, and then I can choose where to go.”