Volunteers begin removal of 40K flags from veteran graves

BOARDMAN, Ohio (WKBN) — This spring, over 40,000 flags were placed on veterans’ graves in Mahoning County for the Memorial Day and Fourth of July holidays. On Friday, volunteers began the huge undertaking of removing them.

Mahoning County Veterans Service Commission along with civic organizations and volunteers
spent the morning at Forest Lawn Cemetery. The groups collected the flags from 32 cemeteries in the county. Flags that are torn or tattered are respectfully disposed of.

Volunteers will remove flags from other area cemeteries in the coming weeks.

“It is an extremely important job to remember those that have gone before us and some of them pay the ultimate sacrifice,” said Nate Walker with the Mahoning County Veterans Service Commission. “It is just nice that we go forward with their legacy kind of living on.”

The commission is always looking for extra volunteers. For contact information, click here .

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKBN.com.