Ken Hess sees a lot of things in the course of a day as a garbage collector that he probably doesn't want to.
But if he sees the colors red, white, and blue peeking out of a trash bag...
"I get a pit in my stomach. First, it's anger. And then it's like, it doesn't matter what's in the hoppers, I go in, and I dig it out. Sometimes I'm waist-deep, but it is what it is. It has to be respected, and it has to be done."
He's talking about our nation's flag. Hess has been finding more and more of them crumpled up in the garbage as he rides around the borough of Dickson City picking up trash.
"Last week, it was amazing. There was 14 of them."
And he made sure all 14 were properly retired, as he always does.
For Hess, his mission isn't just patriotic; it's personal. His father was killed in combat during the Vietnam War. Hess never met him; he was 6 months old when his mother was handed her husband's burial flag. His grandfather was also killed in combat during World War II.
That's what Hess thinks about when he sees the stars and stripes in the trash.
"It represents my heart, my family, my grandfather, veterans all over this country, not just here in Pennsylvania," said Hess.
Hess brings the flags he finds in the garbage to a dropbox outside the American Legion in Dickson City, and he encourages everyone else to do the same with their worn flags.
"I don't think it's maliciously done. I just think it's pure ignorance that people don't understand the way to get rid of them and what it means to all the veterans, military families, and good Americans in this country," said Hess.
Plenty of other VFWs and American Legions have flag deposit boxes outside as well.
There's also one inside the Lackawanna County Government Center.