Roman Speegle plants a flag into the ground at a veteran’s grave on Saturday at Greenmount Cemetery in preparation for Memorial Day. The flags are placed near the buried soldiers’ left shoulders, so it is close to their hearts.
Ryan Simonovich/Durango Herald
Terry Saxson, a Vietnam War veteran, organized the flag-placing event at the Greenmount Cemetery on Saturday morning. He has been coming to plant flags for 22 years. He also serves as the chaplain of Durango’s American Legion Post 28. He says he continues to plant flags every Memorial Day weekend to honor those who fought for America’s freedoms. He places a flag at the grave of Capt. Jeff Kuss, a Durango native and Marine who died June 2, 2016, in a plane crash while he was training with his unit, the elite Blue Angels.
Ryan Simonovich/Durango Herald <br>
Volunteers placed flags on every veteran’s grave at the Greenmount Cemetery in Durango on Saturday morning. Veterans from all wars except for the Revolutionary War are buried at the cemetery.
Ryan Simonovich/Durango Herald <br>
Roman Speegle and Ian McCarthy, members of Boy Scouts of America Troup 538, search for veterans’ graves to place flags in honor of Memorial Day at Greenmount Cemetery.
Ryan Simonovich/Durango Herald <br>
Roman Speegle plants a flag into the ground at a veteran’s grave on Saturday morning at Greenmount Cemetery. The flags are placed near the buried soldiers’ left shoulders, so it is close to their hearts.
Ryan Simonovich/Durango Herald <br>
Bre Leffard, a volunteer with Volunteers of America, plants a flag at a veteran’s grave on Saturday morning at Greenmount Cemetery in preparation for Memorial Day.
Ryan Simonovich/Durango Herald <br>
Veterans’ graves were decorated with flags in Greenmount Cemetery on Saturday. There are <a href="https://durangoherald.com/articles/225445-memorial-day-to-honor-veterans-with-events">multiple other events</a> honoring the Memorial Day holiday this weekend.
Ryan Simonovich/Durango Herald <br>
The Durango Veterans of Foreign Wars Post, American Legion and the Vietnam Veterans Association will hold Memorial Day events Monday in Durango.
Monday
6 a.m.: VFW flag placement on Main Avenue.
10 a.m.: Vietnam veterans memorial ceremony in Iris Park, 1235 Camino del Rio. The ceremony is organized by the Vietnam Veterans Association, with participation by the American Legion and VFW, to honor the Americans who lost their lives in the Vietnam War.
11 a.m.: Veterans memorial ceremony in Greenmount Cemetery, 900 Cemetery Road. The ceremony is organized by the VFW, with participation by the American Legion and Vietnam Veterans Association, to honor the Americans who lost their lives fighting for freedom.
11:45 a.m.: Wreath ceremony at the Ninth Street Bridge. The ceremony is organized by the American Legion, with participation by the VFW, to honor the Americans who died at sea.
Noon: Open house at the American Legion, 878 East Second Ave.
12:30 p.m.: Open house at the VFW, 1550 Main Ave.
Tuesday
10 a.m.: Flag pickup at Greenmount Cemetery, 900 Cemetery Road. Volunteers will meet at the American Legion Memorial at the cemetery.
We use cookies to improve your experience on our site. By using our site, you consent to our policies
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
