It is just a 50-cent flag.
No big deal, right?
But when 1,344 of them need to be placed throughout a vast cemetery, cost and time begin to add up.
For the first year since members can recall, the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2078 will not be placing flags throughout Fondulac Cemetery this Memorial Day, which is celebrated May 31. Instead, the flags will be limited to just the veteran’s plot of the cemetery.
See story on Page 1.
It is unfortunate VFW members had to resort to this decision.
Nationally, the past decade has been difficult for veterans’ organizations of any type — American Legions, Veterans of Foreign Wars, ladies’ auxiliaries — they are all struggling.
Here in East Peoria, about 300 members of the VFW Post 2078 have died over the last 15 years, while only two or three young members have joined, according to Bill Gould, commander of Post 2078.
With fewer members and an aging population of veterans, strenuous tasks, such as walking the hills of the cemetery, have become extremely difficult.
As 80-year-old Leonard George, life member and past commander, put it, “I just can’t walk those hills anymore.”
Members have also started thinking people do not care or have taken for granted the memorial service they offer each year.
That being said, that is why the people — especially the younger generations — of East Peoria need to step up and help the VFW.
And the perfect day to start would be Memorial Day.
Call the VFW at 699-5468 and offer to volunteer some time to help out a generation of veterans that fought
bravely for our country.
Maybe even offer to provide a monetary donation so this long-standing tradition of flag placement can continue.
Although the flags are a small gesture, it is a reminder of our town’s history and a tribute to those deceased veterans.
There is still time left.
We do not want their stories to be lost.
