RICHMOND, Va. --Volunteers are planting thousands of Americans flags at the Virginia War Memorial to represent each Virginian who has given their life in service to the United States.
Memorial operations director Ben King invited the public to help them place 12,000 flags at 8 a.m. Friday on their Hill of Heroes.
CBS 6 caught up with a small but mighty crew of volunteers on Thursday morning as they prepped the site and created a perimeter of flags on the large hill that faces the James River.
“The flag represents our values and everything we stand for and each one of these warriors died to ensure that those values live on. So by planting a flag for each one, we carry their courage and their heroism forward,” King explained.
King said they are anticipating active duty service members, veterans, scouts, and the general public to help them in their mission at the South Belvedere Street memorial.
He described what the hill looks like when all the flags are planted.
“It's just magnificent. It's a sea of red, white and blue. When it catches the wind, they all move in this kind of wave like beautiful fashion and it just adds such a beautiful dynamic to an already beautiful hillside,” King stated.
The Friday preps are in anticipation of their Hill of Heroes Day on Saturday from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m.
Enjoy free entry to the museum and exhibits, the Used Military Book Sale, hands-on historical exhibits and crafts, caricatures, Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) Vehicles, and demonstrations from Ft. Gregg-Adam’s K9 Military Working Dogs Unit.
Take a kid-friendly scavenger hunt through the new D+80 exhibition and write letters to active-duty service personnel.
Food and drinks will be available for purchase, including Kona Ice.
Nutzy and Nutasha of Richmond’s Flying Squirrels, will be on-site from 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. giving away tickets to Military Appreciation Night (on July 27) at the Diamond to the first 100 guests.
This year, the VWMF is thrilled to be partnering with the Library of Virginia to offer our first annual transcribe-a-thon, to catalog the death records of Virginians who were killed in World War II, according to a press release.
Guests can discover how to transcribe historical documents about Virginia’s veterans easier to find and use for years to come.
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