By Nacogdoches Miller

Sun Intern

American flags are placed twice a year by George Rogers Clark High school’s Junior ROTC program in remembrance of those who have served their country, but not all veterans’ graves are easily marked.

Master Sgt. Larry Lee doesn’t allow them to be overlooked.

When a new veterans grave is found or brought to their attention by a family member, it is added to a briefing.

“I personally go through and make sure each one of these tombstones gets a flag,” Lee said while he showed a map of the separate graves he has written down.

The flag placement pays homage to those who served the country.

To do this, the cadets arrived at the cemetery just before 9 a.m. where they met with Lee to debrief and break off into groups before being spread out across the grounds.

The group of around 30 cadets split into four groups, each with a team leader who is a LET 4 (Leadership, Education, Training) in their fourth year and has done the flag placement in the past.

Each flag is to be placed on the left side of the head stone six inches out. Once planted, the cadets take a moment of silence to pay their respects to both the flag and the person it is placed beside with a salute.

The cadets placed about 500 flags Tuesday, which are provided by the Winchester cemetery board.

The flags remain next to the head stones for a couple of weeks after the Memorial Day holiday before groundskeepers collect and store them until they are needed again.

“Military service means a lot and along with that come respect for the U.S. flag,” Lee, a retired Army veteran, said.

No matter the time period they served in, every veteran found receives a flag under the United States Flag code, union and confederate veterans alike, Lee said.

“Regardless of what anybody’s personal beliefs are, the U.S. flag code says we will put flags there, so we do,” he said.

Preparing to go into the Marines after high school, Fernando Hernandez said placing flags honors those who have come before him and by joining the military, he can serve a country that has given him and his family so much.

“I always wanted to give back to the country that has always done so much for me,” Hernandez, 18, who is a senior at George Rogers Clark High School, said. “It’s done so much for us, so I just thought ‘why not give back?’.”

As team leader, Hernandez was responsible for seven younger cadets placed in his group and for some, like Destiny Crews, Tuesday was her first time participating in the flag placement.

“I want to go into the Army,” Crews said, explaining why she joined the JROTC program. “They served our country for us.”

The 15-year-old said she volunteered to help with the flags to give her respects.

Anyone with a veteran in their family whose grave does not receive a flag in the Winchester Cemetery is asked to reach out to the JROTC program at GRC.

“Get ahold of us, tell us what section they’re in, tell us what their name is and we will do our best to put it on our briefing and to make sure they get a flag at least twice a year,” Lee said.