Dozens of volunteers came forward to adorn thousands of veterans' graves with flags at three cemeteries.
View full sizeStephen Edelman of West Springfield, one of the members of the Civil Air Patrol Unit at Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee, looks to place a flag on another grave. The unit came to St. Michael's Cemetery Thursday to help flag veterans graves in preparation for the upcoming Memorial Day observance.SPRINGFIELD – The telephones were ringing on Thursday, and the volunteers were lining up.
A plea for help in placing American flags on veterans graves in Springfield on Wednesday drew an overwhelming response, with more than 100 telephone calls and dozens of volunteers, according to veterans services and cemetery officials.
The project is now expected to be completed today in advance of the Memorial Day observance. The response ended concerns about a shorage of volunteers, particularly for flag placements needed at several thousand graves at St. Michael’s Cemetery on State Street and the Gate of Heaven Cemetery on Tinkham Road.
First Lt. Stephen C. Edelman, a member of the Civil Air Patrol Unit at Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee, and two of his fellow members were among the volunteers on Thursday.
“This is what Memorial Day and Veterans Day is all about,” said Edelman, while placing flags at St. Michael’s. “There is no better way to give back than to come out here and show respect to our veterans.”
Edelman said he received an email from a friend, alerting him to the story in The Republican and on MassLive.com about the need for volunteers, and immediately made plans to lend a hand.
Edelman said he had been expecting a “lazy day” on Thursday.
“That changed,” he said.
Charly N. Woehlke, deputy director of the city’s Department of Veterans Services, made the public plea for help after learning from St. Michael’s that flagging had not yet begun.
With the surge in volunteers, Gate of Heaven was finished Thursday and St. Michaels should be completed today, said Joseph M. Kostek, president of the Springfield Diocesan Cemeteries.
View full sizeJames Menard of Holyoke, one of the members of the Civil Air Patrol Unit at Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee, places a flag on a veterans grave at St. Michael's Cemetery Thursday.
Kostek said it was “touching” to see so many people volunteering.
“It shows a lot of patriotism for our country,” Kostek said.
The two cemeteries and Woehlke’s office had received more than 100 telephone calls with offers to help. Many went to the cemeteries, or planned to help today, some from as far away as Huntington.
“It’s an amazing response,” Woehlke said. “It’s so nice to know that many people want to get out and honor our veterans.”
There are approximately 22,000 veterans graves in Springfield among cemeteries large and small. The graves are flagged every Memorial Day and then again on Veterans Day, accomplished solely with volunteers.
Woehlke and Kostek said they believe the shortage in volunteers this year was likely related to people not realizing that their help was needed.
In addition, the placing of the flags is a very long trek through the cemeteries, they said. Some of the older veterans who volunteer each year have found it too physically challenging, Woehlke said.
St. Michael’s is 165 acres and has more than 100,000 graves, and Gate of Heaven is 110 acres, Kostek said. The task of placing the flags has to be conducted one zone at a time to ensure all the veterans are honored.