ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. – Scouts from the Greater St. Louis Area Council gathered Sunday at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery to continue a heartfelt tradition: placing thousands of American flags at the gravesites of fallen service men and women.

And the skies cleared just in time for hundreds of scouts to come together in this solemn act of remembrance.

“The flag kind of symbolizes unification between all of these veterans that are out here and the unification between us, just as citizens and the veterans who gave their lives,” Katherine Adams, an intern at the Greater St. Louis Area Council, said. “It’s, you know, our way of remembering them and commemorating them for their service.”

Olive Tilghman, with the Gravois Trail District in the St. Louis Area Council and Chairperson for the Memorial Day event, expressed the personal significance of this tradition.

“It’s very important to me. My family is buried here. I have a lot of friends that are buried here,” Tilghman said. “And I feel we need to respect that and give younger people an opportunity to relive some of those experiences by reading the gravestones and seeing what these people have done so that they can have the opportunity to do what they want to do and be free.”

This Memorial Day marked the 75th year of this touching gesture.

“To the best of our knowledge, scouting has done it here since 1950, and you could say it expanded from that,” Kenny Wolf, Gravois Trail District of the Greater St. Louis Area Council, said.

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People of all ages participated, saluting and paying their respects to the fallen soldiers.

“It’s a much better way to spend your weekend than playing on phones,” Katie Hartman, Scout Troop 854 in Wentzville, said.

Elliot Grow and Nate Raeber, both 16 years old and members of Troop 325 in Kirkwood, shared their thoughts.

“It’s important to honor their sacrifice because they did so much for us,” Raeber said.
Grow added, “It feels really good to honor those who sacrificed their lives for America.”

Following the ceremony, the scouts placed flags at approximately 200,000 gravesites at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery. This tradition, which began in St. Louis, is now practiced across the country.

“There’s a number of cemeteries across the VA cemetery system that do something similar,” Kenny Wolf said.

Tilghman summed up the sentiment of the day: “It’s just a joy for me to see all the Scouts that come out.”

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