Over 400 flags have been placed on gravesites in Mount Pleasant Cemetery by members of the American Legion Post 51.
The gravesites of deceased members of the United States Military were honored by members of the legion on Tuesday, November 9 as the legion members patrolled the cemetery, placing American flags on near the headstones.
The job took nearly two hours to complete, and the legion had all-hands-on-deck, with several members of the legion and their families helping out to place flags and locate gravesites.
Due to the sprawling nature and age of the cemetery, the task of locating each military gravesite was a tedious labor of love – with a list of the known servicemen and women in hand, the legion walked through the cemetery and left a flag on each identified gravemarker.
But not all gravesites of military members were easily found.
“In the older part of the cemetery, there are graves from the 1800s,” said John T. Clark, one of the legion’s members who have helped arrange and organize the flag-placement.
Clark adds that the cemetery’s older portion is the resting place to soldiers who have served in wars both overseas and domestic – some being veterans of the American Civil War.
Not all of the gravesites at Mount Pleasant Cemetery have age to thank for making them hidden – some of the sites, Clark says while attempting to clean an ant bed off of a nearly-covered headstone – haven’t been cared for in years, despite being from the current decade.
While the majority of the volunteers on November 9 were older men and women who were part of the American Legion Post 51, Clark says the legion has been actively seeking new, younger, volunteers to help with tasks such as the twice-annual (Memorial Day and Veterans Day) flag placement.
That outreach has brought in some younger volunteers, but Clark says they will always welcome more.
During the November 9 placement, three-generations were represented, as the daughter and granddaughter of a legion member both turned out to help place flags.
For more information about the American Legion Post 51’s upcoming functions and volunteer opportunities, contact (850) 663-8118.
The post is headquartered in Chattahoochee.
Ashley Hunter – editor@prioritynews.net
