POTTSTOWN PA – Members of Sanatoga American Legion Post 244 and other veterans’ groups across the Pottstown area will be busy Saturday (May 20, 2023) beginning at 8 a.m., as they distribute about 2,300 American flags on veteran graves across the expanse of Highland Memorial Park, 701 Farmington Ave.
The annual recognition is in anticipation of Memorial Day (May 29). Because many hands make such honorable work lighter, other volunteers are encouraged to help.
Those interested should send an advance e-mail to post Adjutant William “Billy” Worrell at post244adj@gmail.com, or show up Saturday at the cemetery ready to work.
- The Pottstown recognition is part of a broader effort this year to distribute a record number of flags, about 67,000 of them, at cemeteries across Montgomery County, according to its Veterans Affairs office. Read an earlier story (below), published Jan. 30 by The Post, about the purchase of the flags.
County Prepares to Set A Memorial Day Flag Record
NORRISTOWN PA – The planned Memorial Day (May 29, 2023) decoration of U.S. armed services veterans’ graves in Montgomery County may reach a new highpoint during 2023, county Director of Veterans Affairs Dennis Miller reports.
The county Board of Commissioners has authorized the purchase of 67,000 flags, “a record number,” Miller said in a Friday (Jan. 27) e-mail. The flags are expected to be delivered during February, and then later distributed to veterans organizations and other volunteer groups who will lead or assist in the decoration exercises in May.
Miller also noted that volunteers who regularly check the cemeteries have noticed some flag holders (at top) may have been damaged by the weather or other means. Flag holders can be replaced by the Veterans Affairs office at no charge to military families or survivors, he stated, but they must provide “certain documentation with the goal of tracking the number and location of veteran graves.”
“Caretaker organizations need no proof of gravesite,” he added.
Those looking to obtain flag holder replacements are suggested to call Tricia in Veterans Affairs at 610- 213-4022. The office will want to know how many replacements are needed, and for what era. “We will do our best to accommodate as long as supplies last,” Miller said.
Photo provided by the Montgomery County Office of Veterans Affairs
