LANCASTER, Pa. — At historic Woodward Hill Cemetery in Lancaster, hundreds of flags fly over soldiers, placed there by people who share not name or blood, but the stars and stripes.
“That’s just a way to visualize where all the veterans are in the cemetery," Red Rose Blue Star Moms Chapter PA202 President Lisa Colon said. "When Memorial Day comes, people can say ‘that’s a veteran’ and stop and pay their honor and respects to them.”
Ahead of the holiday, the Red Rose Blue Star Moms Chapter PA202, Boy Scout Troop 58, and cemetery staff sacrificed a tiny bit of their time to honor those who sacrificed so much more.
“Thank you for your service. Margaret Jane Magee," 11-year-old Boy Scout Zachary Book said, as he honored the late service member with a scout salute.
The temporary reminders are surrounded by centuries of stone for hundreds of soldiers.
“War of 1812, Spanish American War, Korean War. World War I, World War II," Jeffrey Hatfield with the Woodward Hill Cemetery Board of Directors said.
Hatfield, an Army veteran himself later provided us with a count. 422 are recorded to be buried in the cemetery, though there may be a handful more from as early as the revolutionary war that are unaccounted for.
“We need to make sure they are always remembered and putting up those flags is the best way possible," Book said.
“Whatever efforts we do today, they're gonna be followed in the future," Colon said. "So if we can make an impact now to remember that war, then 200 years from now possibly there will be another group coming along to remember those that are alive today.”