HOLLAND, MI (WHTC) – Every year Pilgrim Home and Graafschap Cemeteries provide flags for Veteran’s graves on Memorial Day.
If you would like to request a flag to place on a Veteran’s grave, volunteers will be at both cemeteries on Saturday, May 27 from 8-11:00 a.m. distributing flags. The flags will remain in place until the Tuesday after Memorial Day May 30.
Monday’s Memorial Day Service is at 11:00 a.m. around the Civil War Monument at Pilgrim Home Cemetery. That ceremony is broadcast on 1450 WHTC and The New 99.7 FM
The monument is located on the north side of 16th Street, east of Fairbanks Avenue. This year’s program will feature keynote speaker David DeJonge, a West Michigan photographer who documented the last of the World War I veterans in the last decade. 2017 is the 100th anniversary of the United States’ entry into WWI.
Holland Mayor Nancy DeBoer will bring greetings from the City of Holland while the Holland American Legion Band will provide patriotic music. Military ceremonies, the forming of a field cross and grave decorating also will highlight the ceremony, along with the traditional playing of Taps.
The “Avenue of Flags” at Pilgrim Home Cemetery, now having grown to include 450 casket flags – each representing a deceased military veteran will be on display at sunrise.
