Volunteers needed to place flags Memorial Day weekend in Riverside

The call went out Friday for volunteers to help with a Memorial Day weekend ceremony that entails placing miniature American flags at every grave on the grounds of Riverside National Cemetery.

The “Flag for Every Hero” event is slated for Saturday, May 27, and organizers are seeking assistance to make the outing a success.

Brennan Leininger with the nonprofit Honoring Our Fallen asked anyone interested to “join us as we place flags … in honor of those who made the ultimate sacrifice.”

Information about the flag walks and how to volunteer is available at www.honoringourfallen.org.

The walks, first organized in 2012, are conducted not only on Memorial Day weekend, but also on Veterans Day. Both were nixed in 2020 because of the coronavirus public health lockdowns but returned in 2021 with some restrictions, all of which have since been nullified.

In previous years, Boy Scouts, police Explorers, Civil Air Patrol cadets, unionized workers and other interested parties have participated in the walks, which sometimes draw upwards of 1,000 volunteers.

When the walks began in 2012, participants were able to reach only 21,000 of the more than 250,000 grave sites. In 2014, organizers were able to procure enough flags and enlist a sufficient number of people to plant the Stars and Stripes next to just about all of the final resting places of individuals interred at the cemetery.

Since then, flags have been erected at every grave within about three hours, according to Leininger.

The honorably discharged U.S. Air Force serviceman, who is now an Anaheim police officer, visited the cemetery in 2011 and was dismayed by how few flags were flying, prompting him to start the placements, with the help of Cypress-based Honoring Our Fallen.

Eventually, Leininger’s group joined with Riverside resident Mary Ellen Gruendyke to ensure all graves receive a flag. Gruendyke had contributed money and time to the effort long before 2012.

The 900-acre national cemetery is the fourth-largest of its kind in the nation — and running out of space.

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