Veterans, supporters place thousands of flags Cincinnati cemetery
More than 100 volunteers placed more than 7,000 flags at the graves of veterans over a three-day period.
Updated: 5:01 PM EST Nov 11, 2021
On Veterans Day, millions take time to give thanks and perform acts of service as a way to give back to veterans who served at home and around the world.This week, a group of Cincinnati Bell employees chose to take time out of their schedules to give back to veterans buried at Gate of Heaven Cemetery. The group is known as VALOR, which stands for Veterans and Allies Linking Our Resources. The group is comprised of veterans and veteran supporters who advocate for veteran causes and perform volunteer projects. For the third year in a row, VALOR volunteers traveled to the cemetery to place American flags at the gravesites of veterans. When the project started, Gate of Heaven only know about 3,000 veterans were buried in the cemetery. Through an unexpected discovery with VALOR, it was determined that more than 7,000 veterans are actually buried at the cemetery. During the pandemic, VALOR worked for months to confirm the veteran status of people who were buried in the cemetery but did not have a military marking on their headstone.For the past three days, 110 VALOR volunteers traveled up and down all 15 sections of the cemetery carefully placing new flags on more than 7,000 gravesites.Justin Rice is a Marine veteran and serves as the vice president for VALOR."As a veteran of the military myself, it's very easy to lose sight of, you know, everybody who came before you," Rice said recalling the types of solider and Marines represented. "World War I, World War II, Vietnam, Korea, so many folks come before you and it's a great opportunity to honor those folks."Rice shared the mission of placing flags at the gravesites of veterans is deeply personal for the living veterans."There's a really unique aspect to this. As you walk by graves and you'll see coins that are placed on, you know, penny, nickel, a dime, quarter. And that may mean that someone was with you when that person died and they served with you in boot camp. So to see that veterans come and still support those who came before them or served with is such a phenomenal thing."
On Veterans Day, millions take time to give thanks and perform acts of service as a way to give back to veterans who served at home and around the world.
This week, a group of Cincinnati Bell employees chose to take time out of their schedules to give back to veterans buried at Gate of Heaven Cemetery.
The group is known as VALOR, which stands for Veterans and Allies Linking Our Resources. The group is comprised of veterans and veteran supporters who advocate for veteran causes and perform volunteer projects.
For the third year in a row, VALOR volunteers traveled to the cemetery to place American flags at the gravesites of veterans. When the project started, Gate of Heaven only know about 3,000 veterans were buried in the cemetery. Through an unexpected discovery with VALOR, it was determined that more than 7,000 veterans are actually buried at the cemetery. During the pandemic, VALOR worked for months to confirm the veteran status of people who were buried in the cemetery but did not have a military marking on their headstone.
For the past three days, 110 VALOR volunteers traveled up and down all 15 sections of the cemetery carefully placing new flags on more than 7,000 gravesites.
Justin Rice is a Marine veteran and serves as the vice president for VALOR.
"As a veteran of the military myself, it's very easy to lose sight of, you know, everybody who came before you," Rice said recalling the types of solider and Marines represented. "World War I, World War II, Vietnam, Korea, so many folks come before you and it's a great opportunity to honor those folks."
Rice shared the mission of placing flags at the gravesites of veterans is deeply personal for the living veterans.
"There's a really unique aspect to this. As you walk by graves and you'll see coins that are placed on, you know, penny, nickel, a dime, quarter. And that may mean that someone was with you when that person died and they served with you in boot camp. So to see that veterans come and still support those who came before them or served with is such a phenomenal thing."
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