FORT SMITH -- A California teen's belief that veterans should be honored every day and not just on holidays drew a small group to Fort Smith National Cemetery on Wednesday to show their respect for those who served.
About 25 people showed up on a chilly, drizzly morning to assist 13-year-old Preston Sharp of Redding, Calif., in placing flags and flowers on the graves of U.S. veterans. Preston is on a quest to place flags and flowers on veterans' graves in all 50 states, and his visit to Fort Smith marked the 25th state he's visited along with the District of Columbia.
Preston's effort has drawn national attention. During his State of the Union speech, President Donald Trump recognized Preston's work to honor veterans.
Preston said his travels have been an amazing experience because every veteran has a story, which he likes to hear.
After addressing the small crowd Wednesday and receiving honors from local veterans groups, Preston and the others dispersed into the cemetery where, armed with small flags or boxes of artificial red carnations, they placed a flag and flower at 4,000 graves in the cemetery. Some veterans saluted graves after placing flags on them.
The work started about 10:30 a.m. and lasted into the afternoon. Citizen volunteers and members of Fort Smith's Fire Department, Police Department and the community service work crew helped Preston and his mother, April, place the flags and flowers.
"Place the flag on the right side and the flower on the left side," Preston told volunteers during a short ceremony. "Say the veteran's name out loud and thank them for their service. That veteran won't be forgotten."
Cemetery director Marshall B. Murphy said Preston and his mother told him that Wednesday's crowd was one of the largest they have encountered. Preston said a visit Tuesday to Jefferson Barracks in St. Louis drew only five people. With so few people to help, he said, it took about five hours to place the 4,000 flags and flowers.
Preston has traveled across the country to honor veterans since 2015. He said the idea came to him on Veterans Day that year, shortly after he turned 10, when he went to the cemetery in Redding to place a flower at his grandfather's grave.
He said he expected there would be many people doing the same thing for loved ones who had served the country, but when he arrived at the cemetery, there was no one there.
Preston said he was frustrated and mad that veterans weren't being honored on Veterans Day, and he decided to do something about it. He started raising money to buy flags and flowers and eventually created the website prestonsharp.net.
"Since that time, I have placed about 210,000 flags and flowers out at veterans' grave sites," he said.
Preston spent time before Wednesday's ceremony meeting those who showed up and had his picture taken with many of them. One was Tracy Young of Cameron, Okla., who said she was a "Navy mom." Her son Mason Hargrove is deployed in the Mediterranean Sea, she said.
"It was an honor," said Michael Emery of the local Disabled American Veterans chapter. "I appreciate what he's doing all over the country."
As the ceremony started, the local Marine Corps League Honor Guard fired a 12-shot salute and a bugler played taps.
Murphy said Preston proves wrong those who believe younger generations are forgetting those who served the country and fought in wars long ago.
State Desk on 03/21/2019