Group donates flags to memorial
By Jimmy LaRoue
February 21, 2009
When Jim Donovan went to Arlington to visit the United States Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington National Cemetery in July 2007, what he found disappointed him and spurred him to action.
“When I found the flag was damaged up there, I was upset,” Donovan said. “I don’t like to see the national flag tattered, dirty, faded. Don’t like to see it, mostly while we’re at war, and we’re at war – two battlefronts.”
Donovan, 61, of Waynesboro, a retired Marine and member of the Ceremonial Guard Company at Marine Barracks 8th & Eye, vowed to make sure the memorial always had a fresh, crisp American flag flying instead.
In November 2007, Donovan helped form a group, The United States Marine Corps War Memorial Flag Detail Inc., also known as Iwo Flags, to ensure that the memorial would always have a proper banner. Through a sponsorship program, the group provides a new flag on a monthly basis.
The memorial is one of the few places where, by presidential proclamation, the U.S. flag flies 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
In January, Donovan said the group had applied with the National Park Service to place a wreath on the memorial to commemorate the 64th anniversary of the flag raising over Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima during World War II. At that time, the park service asked if the group would partner with them in an annual ceremony to honor the anniversary.
On Monday, 60 to 70 Marines, seven Iwo Jima veterans, a Medal of Honor recipient and Norm Hatch – the retired photo officer of the 5th Marine Division of Iwo Jima – will take part in the ceremony. Iwo Flags will lay a wreath at the memorial, and the Marines of Headquarters Battalion Henderson Hall will raise the flag between 10:17 and 10:20 a.m., the time at which the first American flag rose over Mount Suribachi on Feb. 23, 1945.
“It’s an honor to be doing this, number one,” Donovan said. “We have a lot of respect for the Marines that are in battle right now. It’s an honor to remember that the Marines that have gone in battle before are remembered through this memorial. And just to be part of the program and make sure that these memorial flags that fly over there are clean and crisp, it’s really rewarding, you stop and think about it.”
By Jimmy LaRoue
February 21, 2009
When Jim Donovan went to Arlington to visit the United States Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington National Cemetery in July 2007, what he found disappointed him and spurred him to action.
“When I found the flag was damaged up there, I was upset,” Donovan said. “I don’t like to see the national flag tattered, dirty, faded. Don’t like to see it, mostly while we’re at war, and we’re at war – two battlefronts.”
Donovan, 61, of Waynesboro, a retired Marine and member of the Ceremonial Guard Company at Marine Barracks 8th & Eye, vowed to make sure the memorial always had a fresh, crisp American flag flying instead.
In November 2007, Donovan helped form a group, The United States Marine Corps War Memorial Flag Detail Inc., also known as Iwo Flags, to ensure that the memorial would always have a proper banner. Through a sponsorship program, the group provides a new flag on a monthly basis.
The memorial is one of the few places where, by presidential proclamation, the U.S. flag flies 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
In January, Donovan said the group had applied with the National Park Service to place a wreath on the memorial to commemorate the 64th anniversary of the flag raising over Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima during World War II. At that time, the park service asked if the group would partner with them in an annual ceremony to honor the anniversary.
On Monday, 60 to 70 Marines, seven Iwo Jima veterans, a Medal of Honor recipient and Norm Hatch – the retired photo officer of the 5th Marine Division of Iwo Jima – will take part in the ceremony. Iwo Flags will lay a wreath at the memorial, and the Marines of Headquarters Battalion Henderson Hall will raise the flag between 10:17 and 10:20 a.m., the time at which the first American flag rose over Mount Suribachi on Feb. 23, 1945.
“It’s an honor to be doing this, number one,” Donovan said. “We have a lot of respect for the Marines that are in battle right now. It’s an honor to remember that the Marines that have gone in battle before are remembered through this memorial. And just to be part of the program and make sure that these memorial flags that fly over there are clean and crisp, it’s really rewarding, you stop and think about it.”
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