Legion invites community to honor veterans

American Legion Post #45 invites the community to commemorate veterans this weekend.

In honor of Memorial Day, the post will be teaming up with volunteers to ensure five local cemeteries are in good condition and will place flags on the graves of veterans who are buried there, says Post Commander Welchie Patterson.

It has recently been discovered, he says, that one of the cemeteries even contains the graves of two cavalry soldiers who fought in the Civil War.

The post is also looking for information about any veterans who have recently been buried in a local cemetery, or any older graves of veterans that have recently been found that were previously unrecorded by the Legion. The aim is to create as comprehensive a list as possible of locally buried veterans so that all can be properly respected, Patterson says.

Members of the public who would like to join this effort can meet with members of Post #45 at 9 a.m. on May 24 at the War Memorial next to the courthouse.

Volunteers will be divided into groups and will then travel to their designated cemetery along with a team leader from the post.

Volunteers may request to be assigned to a specific cemetery that is meaningful to them, Patterson says.

Flags will remain in place on the graves until May 27.