Plains VFW volunteers honor fallen veterans
Army veteran Joe Wittig honors a graves site with a flag. (Tracy Scott/Valley Press)
Army veteran Dan Johnson places flags at the Plains Cemetery. (Tracy Scott/Valley Press)
Bill Beck places American flags on veterans graves. (Tracy Scott/Valley Press)
Flags are placed at the Plains Cemetery in honor of Memorial Day. (Tracy Scott/Valley Press)
Heavy rain couldn’t deter volunteers with the Plains VFW Post 3596 from honoring the graves of local veterans who have died.
Last week, the 10 volunteers assembled at the Plains Cemetery to repeat the humble service that has been happening for at least 50 years. 473 flags were placed during the ceremony, taking about an hour to complete. A veteran from the Civil War named Mosley is buried in the Plains Cemetery along with veterans through the Vietnam War.
Jim Gillibrand, Ron Kilbury, Ed Foste, Leland Murdock “Butch,” Heather Allen, Bill Beck, Joe Wittig, Ken Altman, Dan Johnson, and Don Kunzer were present to place flags beside veteran headstones.
A recent addition to the cemetery is the veterans and their spouses only columbarium. A columbarium is a structure used for the storage of funerary urns containing cremated remains. Currently only five urns are interred there with those being, Joe Eisenbrandt, Gary Jenson, Dale Kathis, Geroge Young. The fifth person’s name is not known at the time of writing.
Army veteran Dan Johnson places flags at the Plains Cemetery. (Tracy Scott/Valley Press)
Bill Beck places American flags on veterans graves. (Tracy Scott/Valley Press)
Flags are placed at the Plains Cemetery in honor of Memorial Day. (Tracy Scott/Valley Press)