Page 3 - Florida Sentinel 5-25-18

Feature
Organizations To Place Flags On Veterans’ Graves
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editors
On Monday May 28h, the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1339 will host its An- nual Memorial Day Pro- gram. The event will begin at 10 a.m., at Rest Haven Memorial Park Cemetery, 4615 E. Hanna Avenue.
During the program, small American flags will adorn the graves of veterans buried at the cemetery. The flags are traditionally placed on the graves prior to the pr0gram by veterans, organizations, and volun- teers.
On Saturday, May 26th, beginning at 7:30 a.m., the group will visit Rest Haven Memorial Park Cemetery in preparation for the Memo- rial Day Program.
Currently, there are more than 1,600 veterans interred at the Rest Haven Memorial Park Cemetery.
Members of the VFW
Members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1339 have hosted the Annual Memorial Day Program for the past 21 years. Members of the organization shown in this photograph from left to right are: John Robertson, the late Lonnie Banks, Delpine Collins, Earlie Williams, Jr., and Commander Melvin Collins.
Rules For Placing Flags
There are guidelines to placing flags on the graves of veterans and the occasion for doing so. The flag is never to be used as any form of decoration. Addi- tionally, after the event is over, the flag should be re- moved and stored properly.
According to the Flag Code, the flag is only to be placed on veteran’s graves on Memorial Day, Armed Forces Day, Veterans Day, Pearl Harbor Remem- brance Day and other spe- cific dates listed on American Flags online.
New days may be added as proclaimed only by the President of the United States.
For more information or to volunteer at the flag plac- ing event, contact Com- mander Collins at (813) 238-5627 or (813) 293- 8313; Carl Harris at (813) 404-3080; or David Har- ris at (813) 310-1653.
1339 will be joined by mem- bers of the VFW Post 10140, American Legion, Buffalo Soldiers, Boy Scouts, and volunteers in placing the flags on the headstones and graves of the veterans in-
terred in the cemetery. The flags are placed on the graves bearing military is- sued headstones.
“We invite anyone who wants to help out to come out and support our efforts
to honor these veterans. Any veteran who was hon- orably discharged is entitled to a military issued head- stone. It denotes the branch of the military the veteran served in,” he said.
FRIDAY, MAY 25, 2018 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 3-A