GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — To remember them is their duty.
On Saturday morning, members of American Legion Post Two in Grand Rapids planted flags at the graves of veterans in Rest Lawn Memorial Park, an annual Memorial Day tradition.
"Rewarding. They know what this weekend means," said Post Two Commander Mark Chamberlain, referring to the several veterans, members of the Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution, Boy Scouts, retired law enforcement officers and others who carefully walked the grassy rows of the Grand Rapids cemetery.
In total, Post Two and its volunteers planted 1,400 flags, sometimes scraping the dirt off the tombstones of soldiers, bringing their names, birth and death dates back into the warm spring sun.
"We don't want to have anybody forgotten," Chamberlain said.
For former Air Force Master Sergeant Bill Palczewski, the weekend means more than a three-day getaway.
"Short and simple of it is to remember them," Palczewski said. "Not party down or any of that stuff."
Palczewski, who served "everywhere" over the course of more than two decades, worked in a three-man team on Saturday, sticking the ground with a stake so armuls of flags carried by Chamberlain could easily be planted.
"This is for our past veterans that have gone on to everlasting," Palczewski said.
In addition to the flag planting, Grand Rapids Post Two also sold poppies at the Lowe's on Plainfield, a flower representing remembrance.
"When you're young and in active duty, it's all around you. You don't have to remember. You're living it," said Chamberlain. "But once you retire, you're in that memory stage."
"There's a lot of guys generations before me. They need to be remembered, too."
