JACKSONVILLE, Ark. — On Saturday, veterans and students came together in Jacksonville and Cabot to commemorate Veterans Day by placing flags on the graves of fallen heroes.
The event was organized by Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 4548, a group for war veterans such as John Fugate, an active-duty Air Force officer who has served in Afghanistan and Iraq.
“The VFW is an organization for veterans of foreign wars,” Fugate said. “That is designed to bring veterans together who've experienced similar experiences.”
Many veterans woke up early Saturday morning to prepare an eight o'clock breakfast for themselves and nearly 40 Jacksonville High School students.
According to Chris Willingham, who works with the program, all were members of the school’s junior ROTC program.
"We want to build and develop leaders and good citizens," said Willingham, a retired master sergeant for the U.S. Air Force. "For us, showing them that honoring those who've come before you and learning how to lead and follow is a very important thing."
That’s why when the breakfast was over, the students and veterans dispersed to 13 different cemeteries with over 3,000 miniature U.S. flags, placing them on the graves of fallen soldiers.
“Through this experience,” Willingham said. “They can learn that there are people who fought, lived, and died, and some have even given their lives in defense of the country.”
One veteran who went to Mount Carmel Cemetery with the students was Sylvia Morrisette, currently the chaplain of Post 4548 and served in the U.S. Air Force for 20 years.
“It has been so much fun to have them,” Morrisette said. “They're organized and well-behaved; we just enjoy and appreciate their support.”
For Fugate, he said honoring fallen veterans is undoubtedly essential.
But he and the VFW want to honor living veterans this year on Veterans Day.
“If there are veterans out there that are kind of looking for a common cause and someone to share a story with,” Fugate said. “Or someone to listen to their stories; a lot of veterans have been marginalized because people just don't understand. Well, here we understand. We want to hear your stories. We want to hear what you have to say. We want you to be part of our membership, and we want to bring you into the fold.”
Morrisette said being able to honor and serve veterans is the best experience.
“For me, being a veteran and being able to serve veterans is my biggest pleasure,” Morrisette said. “Veterans that come to the post might need just somebody to talk to, or veterans that present to our post might need food or other resources. We're able to provide those for them.”
Click here to find posts throughout the United States.