Community Corner
New Flags Placed On Veteran’s Graves
A new initiative by the Berlin Veterans Commission.
The arrival of Memorial Day is a little more than a week away. Memorial Day is a day to remember those in the military who died while in service to the United States of America. Begun after the Civil War, Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day and was started to remember those who died while in military service. The federal holiday is observed on the last Monday of May. As part of the remembrance of our brave fallen soldiers, sailors and marines, the members of the Veteran’s Commission of Berlin took the time to pay homage to them.
On Saturday, May 21, Veteran’s Commission members, Tom Chesery, Bruce Trevethan, Paul Eshoo, Charles Colaresi, Robert Smith, John Arguzzi, and Peter Galgano, took time out to replace the flags on graves of service members at 11 cemeteries in the Berlin/Kensington area.
Along with volunteers from Junior Girl Scout Troop #66478, Cadet Troop #6492, and Berlin resident volunteers, new flags were set on graves of veterans at 11 cemeteries.
Find out what's happening in Berlinwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Thanks to the hard work of volunteer Bob Nieman, who walked each cemetery to update the lists of gravesites obtained from the American Legion, graves were relatively easy to locate. Although the day was overcast and the grass was wet, the process moved along relatively quickly. Over 850 flags were placed in the 11 cemeteries
“We have more people volunteering than we usually do,” said Veteran’s Commission Chairman, Tom Chesery. “It usually takes longer to find all the graves.”
Find out what's happening in Berlinwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
As volunteers removed old, weather worn flags and replaced them with new ones, the old flags were set aside in a pile to be brought to the American Legion. Old flags are saved until Flag Day, June 14.
At that time, a sunset “Flag Retirement Ceremony” will be held at the American Legion, where the flag staffs will be removed and the flags will be placed in a drum where they will be burned. This is the correct way to dispose of American Flags that are worn, torn, or for various other reasons, no longer look good. Anyone who has a flag to be retired can bring it to the American Legion, where it will be kept until such time as a flag retirement ceremony will be held.
