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Local Displays Giant Stars And Stripes For Flag Day

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Today is Flag Day.

The day commemorates the adoption of the U.S. flag.

And while it is not an official federal holiday, that's not stopping people around here from celebrating the stars and stripes.

State and federal offices are open today, but the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas and several other county offices are closed today in honor of old glory.

KDKA's Brenda Waters found a 30 by 50-foot flag in McKees Rocks that seems to grow out of the heaps of metal at Castriota Metals and Recycling. The owner of the company, Randy Castriota says, "it's in honor of Flag Day and the veterans."

The American flag is a symbol of freedom, hope and pride. Astronaut Buzz Aldrin saluted it from the surface of the moon during the Apollo 11 mission in 1969.

It was adoption as the flag of the United States 236 years ago today, but it was in 1916 that president Woodrow Wilson officially established June 14 as Flag Day.

And no one is more proud than Castriota who erected the huge flag at his business.

He says he isn't a veteran, but it's in his blood.

"My mom and dad were both veterans in World War II," he said.

So happy Flag Day.

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