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U.S. NEWS Monday 28 May 2018
Boston’s Memorial Day flag garden

idea spreads across the U.S.

By MARK PRATT Church in Houston. Sch-
Associated Press neider and his wife were on
BOSTON (AP) — The solemn vacation in Boston three
display of tens of thou- years ago and on the way
sands of U.S. flags that first to Fenway Park for a Red
appeared on Boston Com- Sox game when they saw
mon for Memorial Day a the flag garden.
decade ago, honoring ser- “I was so moved that I im-
vice members who have mediately thought I’d like
died defending the nation, to do the same thing in Tex-
is slowly becoming a na- as,” he said.
tional movement. With the help of hundreds
The flag gardens, as they of volunteers from the
are known, can be seen church’s congregation,
this weekend in Texas, Loui- 38,000 flags are planted on
siana, Ohio and New York, church grounds, each one
all started by local residents representing a Texan who
inspired by the Massachu- died in service dating to
setts Military Heroes Fund the Battle of the Alamo in
tribute established in 2010. 1836.
“We are extraordinarily Janet Broussard, a member In this May 24, 2018, photo, a couple view American flags on
Boston Common in Boston, which are placed there for Memorial
proud that what we in- of the Blue Star Mothers of Day.
tended to do for the Com- Louisiana, was inspired by Associated Press
monwealth of Massachu- pictures of Boston’s trib-
setts has been brought ute. For five years now, the
to a scale that we never organization has planted
fully anticipated,” said Tom 11,000 flags on Statehouse
Crohan, president of the grounds in Baton Rouge.
nonprofit’s board of direc- Karen Carmen, community
tors. services director for the city
The concept has even of Beachwood near Cleve-
spread to Canada, where land, saw an article about
thousands of Canadian the Boston display in her lo-
flags are planted in Toronto cal newspaper. Since 2012,
on Remembrance Day in the city has been painting
November, when Canada a 30-foot-by 60-foot U.S.
honors its military members flag on city property and
who have died in the line decorating it with hundreds
of duty. of smaller flags.
The Massachusetts Military Like Crohan, they say they
Heroes Fund was founded get the greatest satisfac-
in 2009 to support to the tion from visitors’ reactions.
families of active duty ser- “The thing that I love is
vice members killed since when you see families sol-
9/11. emnly and slowly walk by,
The first sea of fluttering stars probably thinking of a spe-
and stripes included 20,000 cial loved one,” Carmen
flags, one for every Massa- said.
chusetts resident who gave Broussard’s favorite mo-
their life in war since World ment was the time a little
War I. girl of about 4 whose father
This year, more than 37,000 had died in Iraq visited the
flags honoring those who Baton Rouge flag garden.
have died dating to the “She asked ‘Which one is
Revolutionary War have my Daddy’s?’
been planted. That just made it all worth-
What makes the stirring dis- while,” Broussard said.q
play so special is that it’s so
unexpected.
Most people who see it
are just walking across the
Common for another rea-
son, Crohan said.
“It’s almost impossible to
walk past that site without
stopping,” Crohan said.
That’s what happened with
Chuck Schneider, execu-
tive pastor of Sagemont