Bend VFW, Scouts, ROTC Place Flags

On this Memorial Day weekend,as they do every year, the Bend VFW and others place flags on each one of the veterans’ graves at Deschutes Memorial Gardens.

They estimate about 750 veterans are buried at the cemetery . Boy Scouts from two troops and the Junior ROTC helped place the flags Saturday morning.

It takes the volunteers about two to four hours to place all of the flags.

Robert Cusick, the VFW District 10 Commander, has been in charge of organizing the event for the past 16 years and says it makes the young students appreciate what Memorial Day really stands for.

“It’s not just a three-day weekend where you can go out and barbeque, fish or whatever,” Cusick said. “This is a day set aside that we honor all who gave their life for this country.”

Cusick says he wishes more people would take more of an interest in the holiday.

Cusick is a Vietnam War veteran and says 43 years ago, a friend of his also serving overseas was killed.

The flag placement event serves an even more importance for him, not only to honor that veteran but all the veterans.