Flag gardens taking root across country

2010 Boston tribute inspires others

A woman photographs American flags on Boston Common in Boston. The flags are placed there for Memorial Day.
A woman photographs American flags on Boston Common in Boston. The flags are placed there for Memorial Day.

BOSTON -- The solemn display of tens of thousands of U.S. flags that first appeared on Boston Common for Memorial Day nearly a decade ago, honoring service members who died defending the nation, is slowly becoming a national movement.

The flag gardens, as they are known, can be seen this weekend in Texas, Louisiana, Ohio and New York, all started by residents inspired by the Massachusetts Military Heroes Fund tribute established in 2010.

"We are extraordinarily proud that what we intended to do for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has been brought to a scale that we never fully anticipated," said Tom Crohan, president of the nonprofit's board of directors.

The concept has even spread to Canada, where thousands of Canadian flags are planted in Toronto on Remembrance Day in November, when Canada honors its military members who have died in the line of duty.

The Massachusetts Military Heroes Fund was founded in 2009 to support to the families of active duty service members killed since 9/11.

The first sea of fluttering stars and stripes included 20,000 flags, one for every Massachusetts resident who gave his life in war since World War I. This year, more than 37,000 flags honoring those who have died dating to the Revolutionary War have been planted.

What makes the stirring display so special is that it's so unexpected. Most people who see it are just walking across the Common for another reason, Crohan said.

"It's almost impossible to walk past that site without stopping," he said.

That's what happened with Chuck Schneider, executive pastor of Sagemont Church in Houston. Schneider and his wife were on vacation in Boston three years ago and on the way to Fenway Park for a Red Sox game when they saw the flag garden.

"I was so moved that I immediately thought I'd like to do the same thing in Texas," he said.

With the help of hundreds of volunteers from the church's congregation, 38,000 flags are planted on church grounds, each one representing a Texan who died in service dating to the Battle of the Alamo in 1836.

Janet Broussard, a member of the Blue Star Mothers of Louisiana, was inspired by pictures of Boston's tribute. For five years now, the organization has planted 11,000 flags on Statehouse grounds in Baton Rouge.

Karen Carmen, community services director for the city of Beachwood near Cleveland, saw an article about the Boston display in her local newspaper. Since 2012, the city has been painting a 30-foot-by 60-foot U.S. flag on city property and decorating it with hundreds of smaller flags.

Like Crohan, they say they get the greatest satisfaction from visitors' reactions.

"The thing that I love is when you see families solemnly and slowly walk by, probably thinking of a special loved one," Carmen said.

Broussard's favorite moment was the time a little girl of about 4 whose father had died in Iraq visited the Baton Rouge flag garden.

"She asked 'Which one is my Daddy's?' That just made it all worthwhile," Broussard said.

Memorial Day ceremonies got off to an early start Sunday in France, where high-ranking military officials from the United States, France and Germany took part in ceremonies at an American cemetery to mark the centennial of the battle of Belleau Wood, a turning point in World War I and a key moment in U.S. Marine Corps history.

The ceremony at the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery in the village of Belleau featured speeches by Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Robert Neller and other military officials, prayers, wreath laying, poem readings, and the national anthems of the three countries.

More than 5,000 people attended the event to commemorate the fierce, monthlong battle, which is considered the first major engagement of U.S. troops in the war. Belleau Wood, where Marines helped Allied Forces secure victory, also helped to establish the prestige and reputation for bravery of the Marine Corps overseas.

Rear Admiral Brent Scott, chaplain of the U.S. Marine Corps, said the battle was a "critical turning point" for the Corps.

"There are many great stories that have come out of this battle, that have inspired Marines for generations," Scott said.

Most of the 2,289 American soldiers, including 474 Marines, buried in the Belleau cemetery died in the French northern Aisne-Marne region in 1918. More than a thousand other servicemen are memorialized and honored by name on Walls of the Missing.

The June 1918 battle in and outside the Belleau Wood and the decisive engagement of the U.S. forces became a defining moment in World War I by containing a break by German troops through the Western Front and foiling their push toward Paris.

Information for this article was contributed by Virginia Mayo, Philippe Sotto and Nadine Achoui-Lesage of The Associated Press.

A Section on 05/28/2018

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