Annual Flagging of Graves Held at Woodlawn Cemetery

Annual Flagging of Graves Held at Woodlawn Cemetery
by David Greene

More than 350 volunteers spent the last two weekends at the Woodlawn Cemetery, placing American flags at the graves of members of the U.S. military in honor of Memorial Day.

Longtime Norwood resident Bruce Campbell places a flag at the grave of military veteran Arnold Stillman.–Photo by David Greene

According to Lynn Radke and Bruce Campbell of the non-profit group Woodlawn Conservancy Volunteers, members of the Boy Scouts, Girls Scouts, the Washington Grey Cadets, employees of Mellon Bank and other groups were handed a map of the cemetery and located about 7,000 known members of the military and the graves were then “flagged.”

Bruce Campbell puts the final flags on the graves of more than 7,000 members of the U.S. military in honor of Memorial Day.–Photo by David Greene

Capmbell, a 32 year resident of Norwood where part of the massive cemetery is situated, says this year they have identified nearly 200 veterans for next years flagging ceremony.

Campbell explains, “You have to realize this day in age the World War ll vets are dying in large numbers and for a long time Woodlawn didn’t ask when they came and purchased a grave, they didn’t ask if a person was a veteran or not and now they do.”

The pair have been coordinating the flagging event for the last 14 years, Campbell adds, “When we started we just had a few hundred that we knew about and each year we’ve gotten more and more by doing research online.” The Woodlawn Cemetery now asks if a person was a member of the military.

By next year the pair hopes to identify more than 8,000 members of the U.S. military out of the more than 300,000 buried at the cemetery.

The grave of Philip W. Scheu who was killed in action during World War l on Oct. 11, 1918.–Photo by David Greene

Radke, a New Jersey resident believes, “It gives families a warm feeling to come to the cemetery and see a flag on the grave, knowing that a loved one was remembered for their service.”

The Woodlawn Conservancy Volunteers hosts tours throughout the year, works to organize and update cemetery records and is currently conducting a biography project on famous people buried at Woodlawn.

Flags mark the graves of the Zinnia section of Woodlawn Cemetery where many veterans of the Korean War are laid to rest.–Photo by David Greene

For more information on the group and upcoming events, visit their website at: www.woodlawnconservancy.org.