LOWER LAKE — This Saturday, Lake County will join the rest of the nation in honoring its veterans and the memories of fallen war heroes or those who died a little later on.
But a small group of individuals spend the year-round ensuring that the spirit of these patriots is not forgotten. Like keepers of the flame.
They gather in the conference room of a small structure, the George R. Mitchell building, in a corner of Lower Lake Cemetery. The building is badly in need of a new roof. The small group of mostly veterans beneath it are just as much in need of volunteers and a little funding. They are concerned with perpetuating the Avenue of Flags, a national observance with a 33-year tradition in Lake County.
Each of the flags that are stacked neatly on shelves on one side of the cramped room there are 692 of them once graced the casket of a Lake County armed service member before being presented to that person”s family. As such, they are the memories and the spirit that the group works to perpetuate.
The flags will be unfurled from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Veteran”s Day for Avenue of Flags at three of the county”s cemeteries. The same process will be repeated on Memorial Day.
“You can go to Upper Lake Cemetery, Lower Lake Cemetery or Hartley Cemetery and look at the flags and see 200 flags flying in the breeze with their stars and stripes,” says Frank Parker, a veteran.
But Parker and the handful of others in the conference room are concerned that this may not always be so. War veterans for the most part have kept the Avenue of Flags flame aglow since the concept originated on May 5, 1973. But many of the originators who fought in World War II now lie beneath the markers surrounding the Mitchell building.
Nationwide, aging World War II veterans are dying at the rate of 1,200 a day and with them the veteran”s organizations, such as the VFW and American Legion, are dying. Consequently, ceremonies honoring soldiers and sailors and others could also perish unless communities step up to make sure they don”t.
“It”s extremely important that the public understands what function the Avenue of Flags represents,” says Dean Gotham, President of Lake County”s Vietnam Veterans Assn. Chapter 961. “It”s a way to honor veterans and it has been maintained by veterans. Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) took over (the Avenue of Flags at) Hartley Cemetery simply because there weren”t enough people from the VFW and other organizations to maintain it.
“And the fact of the matter is we”re not exactly spring chickens, either,” Gotham continued. “In 20 years somebody”s going to need to be taking over from us. It is critical that high schoolers, junior highs and grade-school children understand why we do it so that in the future they will have above average interest in what”s being done each holiday.”
Said Parker, “We”ve got to get people involved, we”ve got to let them know that, Hey, this is to honor your veterans.” It”s not that hard; we”re all volunteers.”
What is important, the veterans say is that people realize the Avenue of Flags was never intended as strictly a veteran undertaking.
“The Av-enue of Flags is not a veterans” organization,” said Harry Graves, a career Navy veteran. “It just so happens that veterans across the nation are the ones who support it.”
As if to underscore the point, Joel Moore, who is not a veteran in the classic sense (he said he was in the military for a couple of years), was one of the people at the conference table.
“No one ever said thanks to those people that”s all we”re doing,” said Moore. “We are not flying flags in support of Mr. Bush, the President, or war, or conflict.”
Parker, who oversees the Avenue of Flags at Upper Lake Cemetery, says that he has been successful in enlisting volunteers from the community, the Boy Scouts and Upper Lake High School.
“We normally have more than enough,” he said, “but we need to keep the ball rolling.”
High school students can receive schol-astic credits for volunteer work with the Avenue of Flags, he added. Alan Siegel of Carle High School, a former Lake County Teacher, encourages his students to get involved in ceremonies honoring veterans with an after-school program.
Gotham spoke of a young mother of two Cub Scouts who assisted in setting up the flags on Memorial Day.
“They were young kids who struggled with the poles,” he recalled. “The mother”s whole purpose was to teach her sons about veterans and to honor them. That”s what we”re after.”
Contact John Lindblom at jlwordsmith@mchsi.com.
