AGAWAM, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) - Memorial Day is just around the corner, and for many in our community, the preparations began early this morning with a powerful tradition. A sea of red, white, and blue now covers the hills of the Massachusetts Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery in Agawam. Western Mass News was there with the organizers of the volunteers who worked to make sure no hero is forgotten.

On a beautiful Wednesday morning, 150 volunteers showed up at the Massachusetts Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery in Agawam with one mission: to make sure all 10,762 heroes are remembered, “We really appreciate the help that everybody provides, but we could not do this without all of the help that we get from the volunteers,” said Marie Meiers, the Vice President of Friends of the Mass. Veterans Memorial Cemetery at Agawam, “we really appreciate the help that everybody provides, but we could not do this without all of the help that we get from the volunteers.”

It’s a tradition here, you don’t just plant a flag; you say the name on the headstone because as the volunteers say, a person is only truly gone when the last person stops speaking their name.

“We have family buried here, my son is in Section 9, Marie has family here. So, we dedicate our time to the cemetery and try to provide as much assistance as we can. You can’t expect the staff to put out 10,800 flags. It means a lot to us,” said Marline Claremont, the President of Friends of the Mass. Veterans Memorial Cemetery at Agawam.

The cemetery staff prepped the sections, but it was the community that did the heavy lifting. In just 90 minutes, the empty green grass was transformed into a sea of red, white, and blue.

“It’s just a beautiful cemetery. The staff does such a wonderful job maintaining this. They certainly do. That we just want to support them as much as we can,” Meiers said.

10,762 flags. 10,762 names, and one community making sure that this Memorial Day, every single one of them is honored.

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