I think most of us veterans are just happy that we survived. We all knew guys that didn’t, so it has kind of a special meaning for the veterans who are participating.”Ken Brown
CULLMAN – On Thursday, members of the Cullman VFW Post 2214 placed small American flags on the graves of veterans buried at the Cullman City Cemetery. Volunteers from throughout the community were also there to lend a helping hand. It was a great way to spend time with VFW members and to learn about the real meaning of Memorial Day.
“We try to get a crowd of VFW and American Legion people to come out and do this every year; it’s wonderful we have some civilians here helping us today,” said retired USAF Colonel and Vietnam veteran Ken Brown. “This is a special time.
“We have about 800 veterans buried here in the Cullman Cemetery; they span all the way from the Civil War through World War I, World War II and so on,” he continued. “It’s a special time to be able to recognize them; it’s what we are supposed to do on Memorial Day weekend. I think most of us veterans are just happy that we survived. We all knew guys that didn’t, so it has kind of a special meaning for the veterans who are participating.”
In the middle of the cemetery with dozens of American flags in hand were Kathy Calvert and her two grandsons, Lincoln Calvert and Houston Wells. They had read about the distribution of flags the night before and were happy to get up bright and early to help out.
“Lincoln just got back from Washington, D.C. with the sixth-grade class at Good Hope,” Calvert said as she pointed to the 12-year-old boy. “He learned a lot about the veterans. Actually, his grandfather is retired military,” she smiled. “Houston here has a grandfather AND a great grandfather who were retired military. He’s looking forward to going on the Washington trip next year; they plan to visit Arlington National Cemetery.”
“You know, this is so interesting because the boys are seeing actual people’s graves that were in the different wars. They are old enough to know a little bit about history and the wars,” she smiled. “So far the oldest (graves of) veterans we have found are from World War I. There should be some Civil War soldiers over in the older part of the cemetery,” she pointed to an area under a nice, shady tree. “The boys are also learning how to recognize the military markers today.”
“It’s really neat that they actually have people who come out here and do this,” Lincoln added. “I am really glad we found out about it in time so we could be here to help.”
The flags that were placed in the cemetery were just the beginning of this year’s Memorial Day events. There will be all kinds of events happening throughout Cullman County all weekend as well.
“We will have our County and City Memorial Day Program at 10 a.m. Saturday morning at Sportsman Lake Park,” said Brown. “I encourage everyone to come out to that.”
“You know, we get tied up with all our personal plans, cooking out for Memorial Day and all that, and we tend to forget the true meaning of it. We have an opportunity Saturday morning at 10 to get out there on hallowed ground and teach our kids and grandkids a little bit about what Memorial Day really means.”
Sportsman Lake Park is located at 1544 Sportsman Lake Rd. NW. For more information about the event call 256-734-3052 or visit http://qrne.ws/mdp.
See a full photo gallery from this story at http://qrne.ws/flags.
