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100-plus volunteers replace flags on veterans graves on Memorial Day

Daily Item - 5/26/2020

May 26--DANVILLE -- Joe Diehl struggled just a bit in sliding the wooden stick for an American flag into a veteran's grave marker when 3-year-old Asher Grill reached out to help guide it into place.

Around 100 people turned out on Memorial Day, Monday, to help place flags on veterans' graves at the Odd Fellows Cemetery and the adjacent St. Joseph-St. Hubert Cemetery off of Bloom Road. Some wore masks, a reminder of the coronavirus pandemic.

Chris Grill hoped the experience would help his son, Asher, learn an early lesson on the holiday's meaning.

"I was in the Army so it's important to me to get out here and pay tribute to those who gave their lives for all of us," Grill said.

Doug Resseguie, retired director, Montour County Veteran Affairs, and his successor, John Novak, handed out flags to volunteers. Resseguie estimated about 1,700 flags would be placed on veteran grave markers in the two cemeteries as well as burial sites by the high school.

He spoke about flag etiquette and gave a quick lesson about the different grave markers the volunteers may encounter, from the Revolutionary War through modern day.

"I want to thank you all for coming out today. Boy, when Montour County calls for help, Montour County shows up. It's incredible, especially showing up under these conditions," Resseguie said, noting that the volunteers would find it easier to social distance once they dispersed through the cemeteries.

Among the volunteers were dozens of Scouts dressed in full uniform from the Danville area.

Jackson Blansfield, 14, clutched two bundles of old flags, some tattered and the fabric clearly worn through. He and fellow Scout Jay Moyer, 14, both of Troop 33, Danville, walked purposefully through a section of the Odd Fellows Cemetery to drop off the flags that were being collected for retirement.

"We should memorialize veterans and not mourn over them, try and remember them," Moyer said of what he learned about Memorial Day.

"They did fight for our security and they won," Blansfield said.

Laurie Clapper held her daughter, Reese, as another daughter, Lydia, replaced a worn flag with a new one in the Catholic cemetery. A few gravesites away, Laurie's husband, the Rev. Jason Clapper of Grove Presbyterian Church, Danville, replaced flags with his daughter, Charlotte.

"It's a good experience being out here with the family to remember everything the troops have done," Jason Clapper said. "It's a great way to support the community and everyone who gave their lives for our country."

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