A local teen is on his way to becoming an Eagle Scout. Devin Corbin, 17, of Warwick, recently completed a project that will help benefit American Legion, William Shields Post 43 in Conimicut. The project is a new flag retirement pit for the post, built by Corbin and fellow associates from various troops and organizations around the city.

The pit, which was Corbin’s idea, is in the shape of a pentagon – each side has a different flag for each branch of the U.S. military. He came up with the idea after seeing a barbecue pit being used for flag retirement ceremonies at the post, and decided to do something about it.

“He was just coming up with different ideas,” said Rob Corbin, Devin’s father.

In a flag retirement ceremony, the American flag is cut up into four pieces – horizontally and vertically. The blue star field is never cut because it signifies unity amongst the 50 U.S. states. A medium sized fire is tended to and the remnants of the flag are burned completely, while a vigil is held above the fire. The fire is then extinguished and the remaining ashes are buried followed by a moment of silence and taps being played.

According to both Corbin and his father, the project took over 150 hours to complete, even with the help of 18 to 20 volunteers. Troop 1 Conimicut, Troop 1 Gaspee Plateau, Troop 1 Warwick, Warwick Police Explorers, and family/friends assisted Corbin with the creation and construction of the pit. Eight-five percent of the materials were either recycled or reclaimed, and quite a bit was donated as well. For the Adirondack chairs and the plastic red, white and blue border, Malibu Outdoor Living in North Kingstown donated them.

“All other materials were private donations,” Corbin said.

He has been a Scout since he was a first grader, when he was six years old. Currently he is 17 and attends the Greene Charter School in West Greenwich. He is a Life Scout with Troop 1 Conimicut, but this project has pushed him onward to becoming an Eagle Scout at the end of this year.

He believes that the project has an impact on both him and the community. His father and his brother served in the military, so creating the fire pit meant a lot to him. He also believes that it will impact the community because “not many people know how to retire flags” and it will “give back to veterans.”

When asked about the most notable aspect of his tenure as a scout, Corbin said that learning different tactics that involve leadership is one part. “Not everyone is the same,” he said, “this stood out to me.” He also went on to say that he “doesn’t see a lot of people doing this,” in terms of the project.

The new fire pit will be used by the post for flag retirement ceremonies, rather than the original barbecue pit that was being used.