Locals decorate flags ahead of Memorial Day
The greater Washington community gathered at Washington Cemetery Thursday morning to decorate veterans’ graves ahead of Memorial Day. This year, the groups that participated were Trinity School DIstrict, True and Life Co-op, Washington County Young Marines, American Legion Honor Guard and the Washington Rebels baseball team.[/caption]
Dozens of adults and youth from the greater Washington area gathered at Washington Cemetery Thursday morning to place flags on veterans graves.
“We want to honor these people out here,” said Miles Glotfelty, who, together with his wife, Pam, has organized the grave decorating event for decades. “Be respectful.”
Young people took to heart Glotfelty’s words. All morning, members of Trinity School District’s football and baseball teams, True Life Co-op home-school students, Washington County Young Marines and the Washington Rebels baseball team, along with members of the American Legion Honor Guard, walked through the cemetery, placing flags on veterans’ graves and taking a moment to, at Glotfelty’s encouragement, read the name on the stone and thank that person for his or her service.
Early into the event, Blake George beckoned his Washington Rebel teammate, Logan Shade, to a gravestone.
“This one’s from World War II,” said George, 9.
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- Members of the Washington Rebels baseball team place flags on veterans’ graves in Washington Cemetery Thursday morning. This is the first year the travel team has participated in the grave decorating event.
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- Logan Shade, 10, and his Washington Rebels teammate Blake George, 9, honor veterans’ graves Thursday morning by decorating them with the American flag.
Deanna Wall, whose son, Liam Wehman, and stepson, Cameron Wall, both play for the Rebels, said this is the first year the team has participated in the grave decorating.
“We want to instill the culture of the community in them,” she said.
Anthony Giorgi, a sophomore football player at Trinity High School, said this was his first time placing flags on graves, too, and the experience was a good one.
“It means everything,” Giorgi said. “A couple of my grandparents served in the military. Being able to come out here is a great opportunity.”
Gabriel Nguyen, a fifth-grader at Canon-McMillan who serves in the Young Marines, agreed.
“Doing this, it feels great,” Nguyen said, after saluting a veteran’s grave. “It’s good that we’re (honoring) the veterans and making sure they have an American flag.”
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- Young Marines Gabriel Nguyen, a fifth-grader at Canon-McMillan, left, and Kyler Bliss decorate flags in Washington Cemetery Thursday morning. “I like getting to come out and see all the veterans that have served in the wars,” said Bliss, a sixth-grader at Trinity Middle School. “It’s so peaceful.”
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- Young Marine Gabriel Nguyen, a fifth-grader at Canon-McMillan, salutes the grave of a veteran Thursday morning. Nguyen and other Young Marines participated in the annual grave decorating event at Wasington Cemetery.