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Flags-In Ceremony honors fallen

  • Published
  • By Greg Allen
  • 27th Special Operations Wing Public Affairs
CANNON AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  A Soldier, with a pack full of American flags, slowly bends down and plants one exactly 12 inches in front of another tombstone at Arlington National Cemetery.  The following was etched into the marble:

Kermit O Evans Sr
Capt USAF
Apr 15 1975
Dec 3 2006
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Bronze Star
Loving Son
Brother
Husband & Father

The Soldier then moves to another grave and repeats the quiet ceremony. There are 250,000 more who must be honored.  Capt. Kermit Evans, died in a helicopter crash in Iraq Dec. 3, 2006. He was  deployed from Cannon Air Force Base, N.M., where he commanded the Explosive Ordnance Disposal flight. The Hollandale, Miss. native left behind Perneathea Evans, his wife,  and Kermit O. Evans Jr., his then-13-month-old son.

This simple act of placing a small American Flag on the graves of those who gave their lives for their nation is called a Flags-In Ceremony. It marks the beginning of Memorial Day observances at the cemetery at Fort Myer, Va., and throughout the nation.  Every year more than 1,500 men and women from the Air Force, Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard precisely place the flags on row upon row of silent warriors. Each individual completes an entire row to ensure uniformity. The entire ceremony takes three hours and will remain in place during Memorial Day weekend and on Memorial Day. 

And on June 1 this year, the flags will again be removed before the cemetery opens to the public.

(Compiled from the Mach Meter newspaper and http://gwslepthere.com/2009/05/21/flags-in-ceremony-marks-beginning-of-memorial-day-activities-at-arlington-national-cemetery/)

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