This is a tradition 70 years old and counting. The Army's 3rd Infantry Regiment "The Old Guard" places American flags at every tombstone in Arlington National Cemetery on the Thursday before Memorial Day every single year. 900 soldiers place 234,000 flags to mark the graves of fallen soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines resting at Arlington.
Old Guard soldiers repeated this somber action over and over Thursday until every grave marker at Arlington National Cemetery had a flag in front of it as part of Flags-In, a pre-Memorial Day Army tradition.
“Each tombstone that I place a flag on, I tell myself to repeat the name," said Spc. Oneish Simpson. "They say that you live twice: One (time) when you are born and you are given a name, and one when you pass away and the name stays there. To be able to come out here and mention it, it’s kind of bringing that person back. It’s paying respects to what they have done.”
As we mark one more Memorial Day, one more Memorial Day that we can enjoy the blessings of liberty bought and paid for by those we honor, make time to remember them and their sacrifice. God bless those that gave all!
Here is a history of Memorial Day if you are interested:
