BRISTOL — Paul L. Imbruglia felt a wave of relief and pride wash over him as he drove an Army Jeep toward his bunker in the aftermath of an enemy attack on his unit’s outpost, about 25 miles south of Saigon during the Vietnam War.

Bouncing along the dirt road, it was a good feeling to see his comrades raising the American flag aloft on that day in 1968, says Imbruglia, of Providence.

His memory of that particular flag and its colors — dark blue and red-and-white standing in sharp contrast to the earthy tones of Vietnam — is indelible.

Imbruglia was among about 100 former military personnel who gathered at the Rhode Island Veterans Home on Sunday to pay tribute to the flag. The event was held in advance of Flag Day, which is Tuesday.

A crowd of veterans, many of them in wheelchairs, assembled in a meeting hall at the facility and absorbed a presentation from the Rhode Island State Elks Association.

Officially, Flag Day is on June 14. It falls on the anniversary of June 14, 1777, when the Continental Congress adopted the Stars and Stripes as the United States’ flag.

But, on Sunday, Elks leaders and other Rhode Islanders devoted some of their weekend time to flag ceremonies.

In Charlestown, 12-year-old Cody Clarkin hosted a ceremony to rededicate the flagpole at Ninigret Park, a site that Clarkin has spruced up over the past 18 months.

A rifle team from the Rhode Island National Guard was on hand to fire three volleys of shots to honor the flag and deceased veterans.

At the Veterans Home in Bristol, the ceremony was indoors, with no live firing.

The focal point was an array of banners, from today’s U.S. flag to flags flown during other eras, including the Rattlesnake Flag emblazoned with the words “Don’t Tread on Me” and the Pinetree Flag, also flown prior to the American Revolution.

Of course, such Flag Day activities can trigger emotional memories like the one that has stayed with Imbruglia since the Vietnam War.

James Tracy, 67, of Barrington, is reminded of one of his duties during his time in the Air Force in the 1960s: As a member of a color guard, he was involved with presenting flags to the widows of fallen airmen at the Air Force base in Tampa, Fla.

Bill Reynolds, a Navy veteran and retired Providence firefighter who goes by the name “Fireman Bill,” says he is moved when he sees the flag lowered at sunset and he hears taps playing.

“The sound and the stillness and the quiet,” says Reynolds, who attended the Bristol ceremony. “It reminds you of all the men and women who have died.”

Like Imbruglia, the keynote speaker at the flag ceremony in Bristol has his own unforgettable memory of the flag.

Capt. Neil R. Parrot says he was serving on a destroyer in the Persian Gulf the day terrorists attacked the World Trade Center in 2001.

“We couldn’t comprehend what had just happened in our own country,” says Parrot, referring to the sailors’ early reaction to the first news reports.

Later that day, or the next, they all gathered to salute the flag, says Parrot, who is now the commanding officer of the Navy’s Surface Warfare Officers’ School.

Parrot recalls looking at the banner during that ceremony. At that time, he and the men on his ship knew they were at war.

The public ceremony will take place in Ford Field Park off of Cherry Hill. The annual event includes a ceremonial burning of tattered American flags, in keeping with American Legion protocols for the disposal of flags that are no longer fit for public display.

Members of the public may drop off tattered flags for burning at the ceremony site beginning at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.

June 14, 2011, will mark the 234th  anniversary of the adoption of the nation’s flag by the Continental Congress in the year 1777.

Britain's War Horse is on a roll. The five Tony awards - including best play - it picked up on Sunday have given a further boost to its growing international profile.

The play is still enjoying an open-ended run in London's West End, where it has sold more than a million tickets.

Its success on Broadway has prompted plans for a 20-city US tour.

The play will next be staged in Canada and Australia - and talks are also under way for a Japanese production.

The War Horse brand will become truly global at the end of the year when a Steven Spielberg movie - inspired by the play - opens in US cinemas.

The film, which stars British actors Benedict Cumberbatch and Emily Watson, is set for a UK release on 13 January.

The story at the heart of War Horse - the relationship between a young boy from Devon and his horse as they are plunged into the horrors of World War I - continues to exert a strong pull on audiences.

Many consider the play's life-size horse puppets the most striking aspect of the production.

War Horse originated at the National Theatre in London in autumn 2007. Sir Nicholas Hytner, the venue's artistic director, has no doubt why it is gathering steam internationally.

"Much of the narrative and emotional burden is carried by a language that is international," he says.

"The puppetry exists independent of the spoken word, independent of text. It works almost in the way that dance works."

Though there may be slight variations in the stagings of War Horse in Canada and Australia, they are all being planned and masterminded by a creative team in London.

Yet the National has no artistic control over the War Horse movie, which Spielberg shot in England last year.

The director's producing partner, Kathleen Kennedy, sees War Horse as a cultural phenomenon with gravitas.

"In cinema we've told very few stories about World War I and I think that's one of the things that attracted us to this," she explains.

"It's a forgotten war in the United States, and that had a very powerful effect on Steven and I."

Spielberg is a master at sentimentalising stories, prompting concerns that an already emotional work will be transformed into a shiny Hollywood melodrama.

Yet Scottish actor Peter Mullan, who has a significant role in the movie, doubts that will be the case.

"As far as I know it's going to look at the truth of what happens in the battlefield," says the My Name is Joe star.

"How much it's going to move towards Hollywood gloss, I have no idea. I'd be surprised if it does, very surprised."

"I think he's held himself in check," says Kennedy of Spielberg, with whom she has worked since 1979.

"I think there's no one better to direct and tell this story. I think it was tailor-made for him."

At a time of significant cuts in UK arts funding, the National has clearly benefited from War Horse's expanding reach.

"It's very good news for the National Theatre," says Sir Nicholas Hytner, "It's helped us enormously.

"We produce it ourselves in the West End, we co-produce it in New York and we will keep significant financial interest in all future productions. It's been enormously useful to us."

War Horse's success continues to astonish British author Morpurgo, whose 1982 novel provided the inspiration for the theatre production and movie.

"I think it's a bit of a dream to walk down Broadway and see a poster of War Horse," says the former Children's Laureate.

"You can't quite believe it. This is a book, after all, that was written in 1982 which did not do very well."

Morpurgo thinks it poignant that the play's profile in America is rising at a time when the US is involved in military conflicts. "This story is about the universality of suffering in war," he says.

The author acknowledges the War Horse juggernaut is adding to his personal coffers. "I've been really lucky," he admits.

"It makes me richer than I was and there's a danger in that. because it's never good to have too much.

"I don't deserve this, but it's just lovely that it's happened."

War Horse's growing prominence beyond British shores is all the more unexpected given the fact it has no showy song and dance routines and no big name stars.

"It's highly unusual for a show that isn't a musical to have this kind of global appeal," agrees Sir Nicholas.

Nor are this weekend's Tonys likely to be the last accolades showered on this affecting tale of a boy and his steed.

The War Horse movie may still be in post-production, yet it is already being mentioned as a serious contender for next year's film awards.