Volunteers place flags on veterans' headstones, 'honoring the people who died for us'

Ken Ruinard, Greenville News
·1 min read

Every Wednesday before a holiday honoring veterans, volunteers come to MJ Dolly Cooper Veterans Cemetery in Anderson to place U.S. flags on the headstones.

Many come from Anderson County, and some travel farther away to the only state-run veterans cemetery in South Carolina.

Fort Jackson, Beaufort, and Florence have national veterans cemeteries.

Jamie Ellis and his son Caleb, the first to arrive from their home on the other side of Anderson, started as soon as grounds workers brought out storage boxes of flags, over 5,000 of them.

Memorial Day weekend events: Honoring fallen soldiers, Lee Greenwood, Scottish Games,

Brenda Powers pauses by the headstone of a veteran, as she helped place flags on some of the 5,100 headstones at MJ Dolly Cooper Cemetery in Anderson, S.C. Wednesday, May 22, 2024.
Brenda Powers pauses by the headstone of a veteran, as she helped place flags on some of the 5,100 headstones at MJ Dolly Cooper Cemetery in Anderson, S.C. Wednesday, May 22, 2024.

Never mind the temperature rising above 80 degrees at 8 a.m., the two were on a mission.

"It means honoring the people who died for us," Caleb said.

"We're just trying to give a piece of our time to honor those who sacrificed so much for us," Jamie Ellis said. "We've done this in West Virginia. My son's been out here a few times before with my wife, Holly. Trying to impress the importance of Memorial Day."

Brenda Powers of Anderson came to see her late husband's headstone, helping place some of the flags before Vets Helping Vets also helped.

Jordan Brown helps place U.S. flags by the headstone of veterans, as he helped place flags on some of the 5,100 headstones at MJ Dolly Cooper Cemetery in Anderson, S.C. Wednesday, May 22, 2024.
Jordan Brown helps place U.S. flags by the headstone of veterans, as he helped place flags on some of the 5,100 headstones at MJ Dolly Cooper Cemetery in Anderson, S.C. Wednesday, May 22, 2024.

"I know he looks down every time I visit and is just so happy. My husband, he loved serving his country. He's always around me, yep."

She mentioned he wanted to be buried in a veterans cemetery. "This is what he wanted," she said.

Jamie Ellis, right, and his son Caleb Ellis place U.S. flags at some of the 5,100 headstones at MJ Dolly Cooper Cemetery in Anderson, S.C. Wednesday, May 22, 2024.
Jamie Ellis, right, and his son Caleb Ellis place U.S. flags at some of the 5,100 headstones at MJ Dolly Cooper Cemetery in Anderson, S.C. Wednesday, May 22, 2024.

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Ahead of Memorial Day, US flags placed at MJ Dolly Cooper cemetery