5,000 Flags In on Tioga County Veteran headstones before Memorial Day

Sacrifice is meaningless without remembrance. Attending commemorative ceremonies is the most visible way of demonstrating remembrance. Placing flags at gravesites, marching in parades, sponsoring patriotic programs, dedicating memorials and wearing Buddy Poppies are examples.  

Memorial Day is the last Monday of May; but before that, 5,000 stick American flags will be placed in front of headstones of Tioga County veterans. 

The tradition of “Flags In” dates back to 1948 at Arlington National Cemetery where flags are placed in front of more than 257,000 headstones. 

Back in 1868 Civil War General John A. Logan called for a national holiday Decoration Day (now Memorial Day) to honor the dead from the Civil War. He chose May 30 as the day Americans should visit cemeteries to place flowers on the graves of the fallen. 

No one locally should forget the true meaning of Memorial Day. Behind every name on the veterans marker on the back of the headstone is the legacy of someone who served or gave their life so we might live in freedom in our great nation. 

Veterans take the job of “Flags In” very seriously. But veterans from the Glenn A Warner Post 1371, Tioga Post 401 American Legion and Vietnam Veterans of America are getting older and health issues may prevent some from participating.

Veterans enthusiastically welcome the volunteerism of the Scouts to help.

Participating are Owego Scouts, Cub Scouts, and Girl Scouts. They cover Eastern Tioga County including the big cemeteries Tioga and Evergreen. Troop 38 helps with Tioga and Evergreen Cemeteries. The Girl Scouts do Apalachin. St. Patrick / Blessed Trinity Youth Groups flag St. Patrick’s. Troop 30 Newark Valley has a large territory from Flemingville to Berkshire, and 15 cemeteries. There are 10 cemeteries in the Town of Newark Valley including Hope, and six in Town of Berkshire including Evergreen. Richford volunteers do the four in the Town of Richford. 

Each cemetery has someone who did not return. Those placing flags keep thoughts of the Gold Star families in their hearts and minds. It is families left behind who bear the cost and suffer the stark reality of the price of freedom. 

Tioga Post 401 American Legion’s Tom Simons faithfully takes care of ordering, sorting by cemetery, and packaging for pick up by the volunteers at the VFW. In the cemetery these volunteers’ crisscross and go up and down to ensure no grave is missed. A volunteer is needed to take a flag to a missed grave. But contact information is necessary. 

Memorial Day is a sacred day to all war veterans. Flags are lowered to half-staff at the Tioga County Veterans Memorial to remember the war dead. Flags are raised to full staff at noon to remember veterans who served. 

At 9 a.m. the VFW goes to Hope Cemetery-Newark Valley to honor deceased Ritual Team member and lifelong VFW member LaVere “Si” Cortright.  “Sii” was a POW in Moosburg, Germany. He was in the same POW Camp as VFW members 1st Lt. Hugh Hogan, Staff Sergeant Ralph Meza, and the Air Forces Al Catlin. An Auxiliary member also will be honored.  

The VFW sets up the podium and POW/MIA Table. Gordon Ichikawa, of T&K Communication, faithfully turns on his public address system. After 8 a.m. and until 10:15 a.m. honored Names of Tioga County’s deceased veterans are read aloud by Mary Beth Jones and JoAnn Walter, continuing a five-decade tradition. 

Over on Temple Street, between the Owego Police Station and Presbyterian Union Church and at 9:30 a.m., John Loftus lines up the units for the 10 a.m. downtown area parade. 

Especially invited this year to compliment traditional marchers are all veterans of the Iraq War on the 20th Anniversary, Tioga County’s oldest living veterans, all living Purple Heart Recipients and families of deceased Purple Heart and Honor Recipients, and Gold Star Mothers / Families.

Transportation is welcomed for those unable to march. Vehicles are welcomed, too. Floats depicting Memorial Day are most appropriate.  

Back at the TCVM at 10:15 a.m., live coverage on WEBO of a special Memorial Tribute honoring Fallen Heroes, POW/MIAs and families will take place. 

On the parade route or at the park, wear a Buddy Poppy obtained from a VFW Auxiliary member. The Buddy Poppy – small red flower symbolic of the bloodshed in WWI – benefits disabled and down and out American veterans.   

At 10 a.m., the Memorial Day Parade marches from Temple to North, then to Main and to Paige and up Front to the TCVM. Along the parade route spectators stand with their hand over their heart or salute as the American flag passes. Patriotic decorations are most appropriate. 

Once the parade arrives at the TCVM on the south lawn of the Tioga County Court House the Service of Remembrance begins. Memorial Day honors the 170 Fallen Heroes who’s Honored Names are inscribed on the WWI, WWII, Tioga County, Korea, Vietnam and Iraq / Afghanistan Memorials, and 500 from the Civil War. 

Owego Elementary School PTO Vice President Kasey Chobot leads her students carrying American flags in the parade that remember our Fallen Heroes. Each student will present the flag to a veteran or put the flag in a memorial tribute basket at the memorial as Vietnam Veteran Lew Sauerbrey reads the Honored Names. 

Officer of the Day, Walt Beardslee, leads the VFW Post 1371 Color Guard and those from the American Legion and Vietnam Veterans of America in the Posting of Colors.

OFA’s Parade Band, led by Lindsey Williams, will play the “Star Spangled Banner” and later “Salute to America’s Finest” and the Navy Hymn. 

The First Presbyterian Union Church’s Pastor Bruce Gillette and Rev. Carolyn Gillette will give the Invocation and benediction, the first time for a clergy couple. DAR’s Karen Messersmith will lay a wreath at the Tioga County Civil War Memorial.

Remembrance continues with a Memorial Wreath Laying, a POW/MIA Remembrance, and “Salute to America’s Finest” by the OFA Parade Band. Recognition of Desert Storm, Iraq and Afghanistan, Vietnam, Korea and WWII veterans will take place, as well as acknowledgement of Tioga County’s Oldest Living Veterans. 

Gold Star Families from all wars are invited to their memorial to honor their son’s service and ultimate sacrifice. Town of Owego Historian Peter Gordon reads a paragraph from a mother to her Civil War son. The community is invited to share a couple of sentences from a soldier’s letter home from WWII, Korea, Desert Storm, Iraq and Afghanistan. That’s a line of remembrance spanning 162 years.

Tioga County Is A Purple Heart County. Tioga County Veterans’ Service Director Mike Middaugh will offer an update on the services provided his office. Lew Sauerbrey will read the Roll Call of Deceased Tioga County veterans since Memorial Day. The Navy song will be played by the OFA Parade Band for the Navy Wreath Laying Service on the Court Street Bridge, remembering Navy dead and WWII Fallen Hero Seaman Delmar Dale Sibley, still aboard the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor.

The VFW Honor Guard will render a Rifle Salute, and Honor Guard Bugler Steve Palinoski sounds Taps. 

As a reminder, donations are needed so American Flags can be posted at the TCVM. Contact for more information is VFW Post 1371, Veterans of Foreign War Memorial Day Chairman Jim Raftis via email to jraftis1@gmail or through Facebook Messenger.