In February 2024 Rick Clark, one of the members of the DMCC, proposed a project called “Operation Flags for Vets” that involved placing an American flag at every gravesite in Miramar National Cemetery on Memorial Day, 2024.
There were two parts to the project. The first was placing the flags on Saturday, May 25th and the second was flag removal for storage on May 28th.
There were significant obstacles to overcome and coordination to be arranged to make this project a success. There was no funding to purchase the 22,000 flags that would be required so a District Grant was needed to fund the project. Miramar National Cemetery was at first reluctant to support this project, but they became convinced that Rotary was in for a multi year project. It was determined that at least 300 volunteers would be needed to complete the project. A website and volunteer link were created to accept and track volunteers. A Rotarian volunteered to store the flags at a warehouse he owns and transport them to the cemetery.
On the days of the events, the cemetery was divided into 14 sections and section leaders were recruited to supervise placement and removal in each section. Such things as parking, medical contingencies, media management, and personnel management were required to make the day a success.
Over 400 volunteers showed up to participate in what was a major logistic operation. The overwhelming consensus was that Operation Flags for Vets was a major success and will be continued in perpetuity.
I have three family members at Miramar national Cemetery, beginning in 2011. It meant a great deal to me this year to see flags on each gravesite! When I first started going to Miramar, they did put flags on graves but at that time they did not have the avenue of the flags. Once the Avenue of the flags was built, they stopped putting flags on each grave. While I think the Avenue of the flags is a worthwhile addition to the cemetery, a flag on each grave is so personal , and so I have been taking flags out for my three family members each year! So Heartwarming this year! Thank you so much!!
