By Scott Howell

First let me say thank you to the scouts, leaders, brothers, sisters, dads, moms and grandparents who came out on a rainy Wednesday evening May 24, 2011 and helped with placing flags on the veteran’s grave sites. What a great honor for a scout troop to be selected by Mt. Washington Cemetery to come and take part in honoring our veterans. I hope everyone understands how important this service project is and what it means to the families of the veteran who we honored by taking the time to walk through the cemetery to place the America Flag at each grave site.

As I have walked through the cemetery many times to perform this wonderful service project each time I placed the flag of this great country at the top of the grave marker. I would thank that veteran for his or her service to his country by being in the armed forces to protect and stand up for all of our freedom.

If you didn’t take the time to drive through the cemetery when you left on Wednesday evening I hope some time this weekend you will take the time to take your family and go back to the cemetery to take a slow silent drive through the cemetery. It is a wonderful site to see all the flags of those veterans who cared so much to give part of their short time on earth to their country.

Memorial Day 2011 is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May (May 30 in 2011). Formerly known as Decoration Day, it commemorates U.S. soldiers who died while in the military service. First enacted to honor Union soldiers of the American Civil War. It was extended after World War I to honor Americans who have died in all wars. Memorial Day often marks the start of the summer vacation season, and Labor Day its end. Begun as a ritual of remembrance and reconciliation after the Civil War, by the early 20th century, Memorial Day was an occasion for more general expressions of memory, as ordinary people visited the graves of their deceased relatives, whether they had served in the military or not. It also became a long weekend increasingly devoted to shopping, family get-togethers, fireworks, trips to the beach, and national media events such as the Indianapolis 500 auto race, held since 1911 on Memorial Day.

(See more pictures from this service project at Mt. Washington Cemetery in the Troop 282 Photo Collection.)