Arlington 'Flags In' Tribute Begins Memorial Day Commemoration
(May 23, 2009) |
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Airman Jacob Proffer, a member of the Air Force Honor Guard, pauses to salute a grave after placing a miniature flag at its base during the “Flags In” tribute at Arlington National Cemetery, May 21, 2009. “When I do this, it makes me take a lot more pride every time I put on my uniform, seeing the measure of sacrifice so many have made,” he said. |
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WASHINGTON, May 22, 2009
More than 3,000 servicemembers officially kicked off the Memorial Day
commemoration last evening as they placed more than 250,000
miniature flags at every grave at Arlington National
Cemetery.
The tradition, known as “Flags In,” dates back to 1948, when
soldiers of 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, known as “The Old
Guard,” began the annual Memorial Day tribute.
This year marked the sixth year company-size elements of
sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen joined about
3,000 soldiers in placing a U.S. flag at the base of the
gravestone and columbarium niche of every servicemember
buried or inurned at Arlington.
Yesterday afternoon, the troops fanned out across the
cemetery's hills and valleys, carrying rucksacks bulging
with bundles of |
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flags. They
approached each headstone, centering a miniature
flag exactly one boot length from the base
before sinking it into the ground. |
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“I can't say how lucky I feel to have the opportunity to do
this,” said Army Sgt. Daniel Sonntag, a member of the Old
Guard's Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 4th
Battalion. “Not many people get to do something like this,” said
Sonntag, who deployed to Iraq with the 1st Infantry Division
in September 2006 and has friends buried at Arlington. “This
is something small we can do to honor those who have fallen
before us. ... It's a way to recognize how important each one
of these men and women here really was.” |
Airman 1st Class Rion Ehrman, a member of the Air Force
Honor Guard who routinely participates in funeral details at
the cemetery, said he felt humbled to participate in the
Flags In tribute to honor the fallen. “It's a real honor to
be putting the flag they died for right in front of them,
especially on Memorial Day,” he said.
“It's just beautiful,” Ehrman said as he paused to look out
over the sea of flags fluttering in the wind. “I just love
Arlington, and I think it's the best job in the world, to be
here every day.”Arms laden with flags, Navy Seaman Christopher Crespo knelt
down at one gravestone after another, eyeing the flags to
ensure they were properly aligned. “We're honoring the
people who have served before us,” he said. “What we are
doing symbolizes that we haven't forgotten them.”
At the same time, he said, it will send that message to all
who |
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Marines assigned to the Marine Corps Barracks in Washington, D.C., reach for armsful of miniature flags to place at every grave in Arlington National Cemetery during the “Flags In” tribute, May 21, 2009. |
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will visit the cemetery during the
Memorial Day weekend. “Everyone who sees this
will know that we have not forgotten, and that
we still care,” he said.
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Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Carson Zumalt turned the Flags In
tribute into a family affair, with his wife, Candice, sons,
Aiden and Connor, and sister, Amber Lane, joining in the
effort.
Zumalt called participating in Flags In
“a powerful reminder of the sacrifices that have been made
for our freedoms” and the ultimate cost that many, including
some of his brothers in arms, have paid. “We all know what
we're up against when we join the service and deploy,” he
said. “This is a way to tell them, Thank you for your
service." |
Navy Seaman Josh Sallee, left, and Seaman
Mark Matthews, placing a flag by a grave marker,
participate with fellow U.S. Navy Ceremonial
Guard members in the annual “Flags In” tribute
at Arlington National Cemetery, May 21, 2009. |
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Airman Jacob Proffer, a member
of the Air Force Honor Guard, paused to salute a
grave after placing a miniature flag at
its base. “When I do this, it makes me take a lot more pride
every time I put on my uniform, seeing the measure of
sacrifice so many have made,” he said. “I hope that when
people come here and see this, they will understand the
price of our freedoms.”
Nowhere at Arlington did that sacrifice feel quite as
poignant as in Section 60, lined by the graves of many
casualties of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Christine Bellavia and her sister, Amelia Stillwell, bent
over the grave of a fallen Marine they'd never met – but
whose mother they had promised the previous day they'd
visit. Bellavia had just come from the flag-adorned grave of
her husband, Army Staff Sgt. Joseph Bellavia. The 101st
Airborne Division soldier was killed in Karbala, Iraq, on
Oct. 16, 2003. |
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After placing red, white and blue bouquets by the headstone
and arranging two red roses between them on the ground
beside the miniature flag there, Bellavia retrieved a single
rose petal to take back home with her to Clarksville, Tenn.
It was purely coincidental, she said, that she happened to
be on the East Coast and visiting her husband's grave just
before Memorial Day and during the Flags In tribute.
“This is just awesome,” she said as she watched the soldiers
moving through the cemetery. “It's just amazing to see all
this.”
While Memorial Day represents a special time of remembrance,
Bellavia said that in many respects, Memorial Day for her is
a year-round observance. “I think about him and remember him
every single day,” she said. | |
Article and
photos by Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
Copyright 2009
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