BOURNE – This Memorial Day, Operation Flags for Vets will honor all interred veterans at the Massachusetts National Cemetery in Bourne.
About 77,000 flags will be placed throughout the cemetery, one for every grave.
Volunteers will be assigned different sections of the property and the flags will be divided up accordingly.
Event organizer and founder Paul Monti said that they may have as many as two to three thousand volunteers assist in the placements, however he would always invite more to participate.
“The more the merrier. In my estimation if 77,000 people showed up and each put in one flag, that would be fabulous.”
2021 will see new flags on the cemetery, after the previous ones had to be replaced due to wear over the years.
Monti said that the flags are procured through fundraising and donations, rather than government programs or other organizations, so any donation residents make helps.
“We appreciate everybody down there who has come out and helped us in one way or another, whether it’s placing the flags or donating. Or picking the flags up,” said Monti.
The flags will be retrieved on Sunday, June 6 at 10 am, and will return again for Veterans’ Day in November.
More information as well as how to donate can be found on the Flags for Vets website.
“It’s a wonderful thing to do. It’s very heartwarming. It’s a beautiful site when that entire cemetery is flagged. And we don’t miss anyone down there. We do every single grave,” said Monti.
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