More than 1,000 American flags wave between the headstones of veterans in Gainesville’s Evergreen Cemetery this week, each one placed by a volunteer honoring a veteran’s service ahead of Veterans Day.
“It is so wonderful that I can do something to honor and remember every single one of our veterans and the time that they served our country,” said Evergreen coordinator Karen Pruss, who has led the event since 2018. She has been involved with the event for 15 years in total.
Evergreen Cemetery staff and volunteers placed a flag on the grave of every veteran buried throughout the 56-acre property on Saturday in honor of Veterans Day. The flag-placing event occurs annually on both Veterans Day and Memorial Day to honor the more than 1,100 veterans buried in the cemetery. Staff volunteers said this year’s turnout of volunteers was between 125 and 150.
Pruss said Veterans Day is very personal to her, as many of her family members have served or are active duty in the military. Her parents, father-in-law and brothers-in-law are veterans, and her sons are on active duty in the military.
To coordinate flag placement, Pruss said the cemetery is divided into small sections, with each volunteer or group assigned to different areas. Volunteers are given a list of names for each section and a map to help locate the gravestones.
“The volunteers are great, they just take good care of everybody who served,” Pruss said.
Pruss said she hopes the volunteers who came out feel proud to have participated in the honorable event.
“When you are out of here and you see how many volunteers, how many of our neighbors show up to participate, it's overwhelming,” Pruss said. “I hope that each one of them comes in and feels a sense of pride.”
Among the groups of volunteers who came to pay tribute to the veterans were students from Gainesville High School’s Navy ROTC program.
“The biggest part of ROTC is community service and helping our community,” said cadet Joshua Chaney. “Making sure that we're giving back to the people that have given so much to us and thanking these people for their service.”
Another cadet, Israel Hughston, said that while placing flags, he felt some of the graves were not as well respected as others, noting that some veterans' graves were buried and covered in dirt and foliage.
“I think people should be volunteering more and coming out to help, and we can do that,” Hughston said. “But that's what we're here for, to help support.”
Karen Garren, a volunteer, said this is her fifth year coming to place flags and that she has participated in about 10 flag-placing events, including Veterans Day and Memorial Day events.
“It's a real trip through history, through Gainesville’s history,” Garren said. “I love the care that some of the people have put into it.”
Garren said she volunteers in honor of her relatives and best friends who served and to pay her respects to veterans.
The hardest part of placing the flags, she said, is seeing graves of veterans from years dated during the Civil War. She said she came across a grave dated to 1871 and knew they had served in the Civil War and were probably Confederate.
“It's the eeriest feeling,” Garren said. “I know you were the enemy, but you're not anymore. And really, this is what's gotten this country into such divisiveness now, considering people to be the enemy, and we have to get past that.”
